Cherrygrove Champion: Best of the Best
by Colorful Blades
Summary: Join Cutter as he journeys through the Johto Region with his trusty Larvitar at his side. As he travels through Johto, will he be able to become the Champion that Cherrygrove never had, or will the obstacles that stand in his way be too much for Cutter to overcome?
1. Happy Birthday

Today was the Cutter's 17th birthday and the day he could finally get a pokemon. According to the Pokemon League, he couldn't be a certified trainer until his 18th birthday, but on his 17th, the Pokemon League allowed future trainers to get their first pokemon. That way they were able to bond with their first pokemon before setting out on a journey across the region.

Cutter had been waiting for this day to come since he was a child. He loved sitting around and listening to his parents tell him stories of their training days. Back in their time, you could set out on your pokemon adventure at age 10, but too many kids were dying and getting hurt. Because of this, the League decided to make the official age 18. Athe mark of adulthood, people could be trusted to embark on a journey.

"Cutter," called Cutter's mom from downstairs, "Someone's here to see you." Cutter's mom had never been an excellent trainer, but she nonetheless she had gone on a journey of her own. Cutter loved to play with her pokemon and listen to her tell stories of trying to get gym badges, but almost always failing spectacularly. She was much better at making friends with pokemon than battling with them.

"Coming!" yelled back Cutter as he slid on a pair of khaki shorts and a white t-shirt, topped with a hardy vest. He pulled on his hiking boots as he stumbled out of the room and, not even bothering to tie them, ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He sped into the kitchen and nearly knocked over his mother who was putting away a jug of Oran juice. "Oh, watch out Cutter," scolded his mother.

"Sorry mom," Cutter smiled, hugging her. He pulled out of the hug and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Cutter, this is Mrs. Grace from the Day Care outside of Goldenrod City, dear," Mrs. Robinson informed Cutter, gesturing to a woman that Cutter hadn't seen until now. She was small and wrinkly with steel-gray hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her face was neither smiling nor unsmiling, but she did not look like someone Cutter would want to mess with.

"Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Grace," beamed Cutter, not able to hold in his excitement. His stomach was practically exploding with Butterfree. He knew what was coming next. He had been waiting on this day.

"And you as well young man. You turn 17 today, correct?" Mrs. Grace questioned, her voice softer than her steely gaze led Cutter to believe it would be.

"Yes ma'am!" Cutter squeaked, ecstatic. His mother had gotten the head of the leading Day Care in Johto to provide him with his first pokemon. _What a mom,_ he told himself. He was sure he would be thanking her nonstop for the next couple of days.

Her eyes twinkled at the excited boy but her hardened face remained the same. "And do you know what you want for your birthday present?"

"Oh yes. I've known for forever." Cutter beamed, his mind racing with all the pokemon that he could possibly want.

"Well, what is it?"

"A pokemon, ma'am," Cutter said, his voice trembling. He was struggling to keep his excitement at a respectful level, but the Day Care owner seemed to understand the what he was feeling. She too used to be a trainer, he was sure.

"And do you know which kind?" she asked, her voice calming Cutter's nerves.

"I have a certain couple in mind that I would like, but I'm willing to take practically any pokemon," Cutter told her. He knew that any pokemon could be strong with the right trainer, and Cutter planned to be that trainer.

"Well, I don't happen to have any pokemon here with me," the old woman confessed. Immediately, Cutter's face fell. He was sure that he was going to be getting a pokemon for his birthday. _But then what is she here for? Maybe to teach me about pokemon? Seems expensive to get her all the way out here just to teach me about pokemon. Any breeder could do that._ Grace, upon seeing Cutter's downcast look, continued. "But, I do have a pokemon egg!"

"An… egg?" Cutter asked, his excitement returning, although more hesitant than before.

"I have brought a pokemon egg. Your mother and I figured that you should raise the pokemon from birth, and what better way to do that than with an egg? We agreed that it would be the best way for you to have the strongest bond possible with your pokemon. Does that make sense?"

"Yes ma'am, I think so," Cutter said, slightly confused.

"If a trainer is able to raise a pokemon from before hatching, the pokemon in the egg gets a feel of the one taking care of it. It's kind of like imprinting, but before they hatch. The pokemon will actually imprint once it hatches and that serves to further the bond. It will look to you like a caretaker, but also with an undying love. If the trainer and pokemon make that bond as soon as it hatches, it surpasses the bond that a trainer and a caught pokemon will have."

Understanding flooded Cutter's face and he smiled as his mind wrapped around the breeder's complicated words. "Yes ma'am. I get it now."

The breeder smiled and took a backpack off of her back. She handed it to Cutter, who took it gingerly into his arms. "In that bag is your egg. When you pass by my Day Care in the future, stop in and show me how it has grown, if you don't mind."

"I will," Cutter smiled as tears of thankfulness filled his eyes. "Thank you!" Cutter called, but it was to empty air. The woman had already turned and gone.

Carefully, Cutter set the backpack on the kitchen table and unzipped it. Inside there was a glass tube with a layer of plush at the bottom to protect the delicate egg that sat on top. The egg was a sandy green color with red and black diamonds covering the middle. It was about the size of a football, albeit a tad bit rounder.

Cutter pulled the tube out and set it on the table. He leaned down and pressed his face into the glass, wanting to get as close of a look as possible, staring at the egg in awe.

After a moment of allowing her son his time with the egg, his mom broke the silence with, "we're headed to lunch soon, Cutter, so brush your hair."

"Yes ma'am," Cutter replied, still not taking his eyes off the egg. He was already in love and he didn't even know what pokemon it was.

xx

The next six months dragged on, but Cutter made the most of them. He got a job at a local farm to save some money for his journey and he spent time with his family to pass the time. But finally, on a warm spring evening, it happened.

Cutter was sitting on his bed reading a guide on the various pokemon of Johto when a sharp crack rang out around his room. "AAAHHH!" He screamed and fell backwards, startled, pulling a pillow over his head for protection. After he realized he wasn't being attacked, he threw the pillow off his head and looked around, confused as to what caused the noise. Then another, louder crack rang out. He swung his head around, and found that the noise was coming from the small, sandy colored egg. He leapt off the bed and crouched next to the glass case. Hairline cracks snaked across the shell that he had been taking care of these last six months.

Five minutes inched by, then ten, but to Cutter it felt like an eternity. He remembered the woman saying that it would take some time for the baby pokemon to break the egg, but that it was imperative that they do it on their own.

A half hour later, and a tiny brown appendage, the same color as the egg, broke through the outermost layer of the shell. Quickly, the little arm retreated. Then it punched through the shell again. This went on for another couple of seconds. Cutter chuckled to himself as he watched his new pokemon try and make its way through the shell of the egg.

Finally, the whole top of the egg shattered and a tiny little horn could be seen. Cutter pulled the top of the glass case off and looked down into the egg. The skin that was visible so far was all the color of the egg, with the exception of what appeared to be black eyeliner underneath the eyes, which were not yet open. After another five minutes of struggling, the entire egg had broken open, along with the glass case, its gooey, embryonic contents spilling out onto his carpet. His mom was going to be furious, but that was at the back of Cutter's mind.

The small pokemon sat on the padding on which the egg had previously rested and slowly opened its little black eyes. On its stomach was a red diamond, and to the left and right were two black diamonds. They appeared to be a place where the pokemon's sandy skin simply didn't grow. Cutter knew that this was an aspect of the pokemon's future dark typing.

"Larvitar," Cutter whispered, awestruck. He had mentioned Larvitar to his parents once or twice, but not often. Cutter knew that Larvitar were the most expensive Pokemon eggs to get ahold of. Plus, they were extremely, extremely rare. Their final evolution, a pseudo-legendary called Tyranitar, were known for their awe-inspiring power and ability to wreak havoc both on and off the battlefield. Back before modern day civilizations, Tyranitar were known to destroy entire villages simply out of anger. His family wasn't exactly rich, either, so how his parents afforded this was unknown to him. He had truly been expecting a Spinarak or Sentret. Not only were those common, but they were easy to train. His parents had gotten him a rare, expensive, and difficult to train Pokemon. Cutter was ecstatic and knew that he was up to the task. It would be a long and difficult process, but Cutter was ready.

An ear-popping screech brought him out of his thoughts and back into reality. Larvitar was crying. _Is he using Screech attack?_ Cutter thought to himself, but quickly decided that Larvitar was just crying, considering it was a baby.

"Hey, hey.," Cutter whispered softly. He didn't want to scare the newborn any more than it already was. Slowly the baby pokemon looked to his new trainer and his crying quieted, then finally stopped completely, leaving the room still and silent except for the combined breathing of trainer and pokemon. Looking up at Cutter, the Larvitar's eyes grew wider and it reached its stubby arms upwards toward him. Slowly and gently, Cutter wrapped his arms around the newborns midsection, using one arm as support for its head and the other as a cradle. Its conical made it hard to hold so Cutter spent the next couple moments readjusting until he found something that he assumed was more comfortable for both of them. Cutter found his arms growing tired because even though Larvitar was a baby, his body was made of rock, so it was still heavy. And its skin was rough like sandpaper. With each adjustment that Cutter made, the sandy skin scraped his arms more and more raw, sure to leave them hurting for a couple of days. Cutter drowned out the pain, instead focusing on the baby in his arms.

"There, there," Cutter cooed softly, stroking the smooth red belly of his newest friend. They stayed like that for a while before the baby grew restless. Writhing and squirming around in Cutter's arms, the Larvitar struggled to right itself. Cutter set the baby down on the carpet and turned to grab his Pokedex off his desk.

" _Larvitar. The Rock Skin Pokemon. This Larvitar is a male. Larvitar feeds on soil. After it has eaten a large mountain, it will fall asleep so it can grow. This Larvitar is a male and it knows the moves Bite, Leer, Tackle, and Focus Energy. Its ability is Guts which increases the pokemon's attack when inflicted with a status condition. Larvitar is newly hatched."_ the Pokedex droned in its monotone voice.

"So you're a boy," Cutter said to the Larvitar, who cocked his head in confusion and looked up at him. Even though all pokemon are born with an innate understanding of human speech, babies have a harder time of it than fully grown pokemon. Until they have been around humans for an extended period of time and grow to learn their language, there isn't much they can do to understand.

Moments went by with the two of them maintaining eye contact. Finally, Larvitar broke the stillness. He reached up with his stubby arms, a sign that he wanted his trainer to pick him up. Cutter happily obliged "Man, you're gonna make me stronger huh? You sure are a heavy little guy." Cutter knew that he would only be able to pick up Larvitar for the first couple weeks before the small pokemon got to be too heavy. Before evolution they got to be about 150 pounds and grew exponentially in their first couple weeks after hatching. By the time they set out on their adventure in six months, the Larvitar would weigh close to 100 pounds and Cutter wouldn't be able to pick him up anymore. After that, the next fifty or so pounds before evolution would come slowly. He had read that it took three to six months for Larvitar to evolve after they had grown out of their baby stage, which took about six months.

Larvitar got restless again, so Cutter set him down. Larvitar began to try out his feet and waddled around, falling down more than once as he taught himself to walk. Larvitar spent the next twenty minutes exploring Cutter's room, but every few seconds would look back at Cutter to make sure he was still there. Cutter smiled as his heart filled with love for the little pokemon.

An hour passed with Larvitar exploring the room for a minute then returning to Cutter's arms, then back again and back again. The whole-time Cutter was reading all he could about Larvitar and their line in his Pokedex. Finally, Larvitar decided to stay in Cutter's arms and the exhausted baby pokemon drifted off to sleep. Cutter rubbed the Larvitar's belly gently as he slept.

After a while, Cutter heard the front door open, then slam shut. His parents had made it home. "Honey, your father and I are back!" called his mother. Cutter didn't answer for fear of waking the newborn, which just made his mom yell back louder. "Cutter?" pause. "Cutter, don't make me come up there." Another pause. "Alright I'm coming up." He heard his mother's feet stomping up the steps and he knew she would be upset that he didn't answer, but he figured she would get over it fairly quickly once she realized why he didn't. "Cutter," his mother said as she swung the door open. Her eyes landed on the carpet wet with egg-matter. "WHAT IS THIS ME-," she yelled, but stopped when she saw the once sleeping Pokemon lying in Cutter's arms. At the rude awakening, the Larvitar began thrashing and screaming again, scraping even more skin off of Cutter's already tender arms. The baby was surprisingly strong for something so young. "Oh my. Cutter. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize…" His mother trailed off, looking apologetic.

"Hey. There's no use in crying like that. Shh," Cutter cooed to the wailing infant, rubbing the red scales on the infant's stomach, calming him. The Pokedex had assured Cutter that most of them enjoyed that, and it appeared that his Larvitar was no different. His mother stood there marveling at how her son was taking care of the baby.

"Honey, what's all that racket?" Cutter's father asked as he walked into the room. He saw the newly hatched Larvitar and quieted immediately, just like his wife had. The two of them just stood there smiling happily at their son and his newborn partner.

"Goodnight, Cutter," his mother whispered as she kissed him on the head.

"Night mom. Night dad," Cutter said back in a hushed tone as his parents left.

Cutter stood slowly and steadily and laid Larvitar down on his bed as comfortably as he could. He got all the pillows and blankets he could find from his closet and began making a makeshift bed. After he deemed the shoddy sleeping arrangement relatively sleepable, he laid Larvitar down in it and covered him up before curling up next to him. The Pokedex said that since Larvitar were coldblooded they would need to be kept as warm as possible for the first month, and the best way to do that while also increasing the bond was to sleep with them. After that first month they were able to sleep outside of constant warmth and the trainer's embrace, but for now Cutter was happy to do it. He looked around as Larvitar slept and realized his room was a mess, not to mention the burning in his arms. He looked down and saw that they were rubbed completely raw from holding the writhing Larvitar with its sandpaper skin. He chuckled and began to say goodnight to his new partner, speaking ot it softly. "Hey little buddy. How are you doing? My name is Cutter. You're my new partner and hopefully my best friend." The little Larvitar twitched in his sleep, completely unaware Cutter was talking to him. "You and me, we're going to be the strongest pair in the history of Johto, you know?" Cutter smiled to himself and cuddled up as close as he could to the baby Larvitar. He closed his eyes, but before he drifted off he noticed the Larvitar pushing as close to him as he could. Cutter smiled to himself and wrapped his arms even tighter around his new friend.

xx

Cutter was awoken two hours later by the screams of the baby. He jerked upright, fearing for his life, not knowing the cause of the screaming. His heartbeat slowed when re looked down and realized it was only Larvitar crying. Cutter sighed and picked up Larvitar, muttering to it, humming, anything to get it to stop crying. After five minutes, it was silent again. Cutter waited, just to make sure it didn't wake back up, but before he could put Larvitar back in its own bed, he drifted to sleep as well, cradling the baby in his arms.

xx

The sun was shining through his window and Larvitar was crying again. Cutter opened his eyes and looked groggily around, confused as to how he got on the ground and why his arms were burning. His eyes landed on the baby pokemon in his arms and it all came back to him. He looked over at his clock. 7:21, it read. "Great," Cutter muttered, "Saturday, and I'm already up." His tone was sarcastic, but he was as excited as he could be. It was his first day with Larvitar. He laid the Pokemon back on his bed, brushed his teeth, applied some ointment to his raw forearms, and got dressed, putting on a long sleeved shirt to protect his arms from Larvitar's rough skin.

He picked up the small Larvitar and carried him downstairs, eager to begin their first day together. He was greeted by his smiling mother and a Clefable setting the table. "Good morning honey! How did you sleep?" The bipedal pink pokemon greeted Cutter with a wave and a smile. How the Fairy pokemon was so chipper even in the early morning, Cutter would never know.

"Great," mumbled Cutter, the tired in his eyes showing, but his smile genuine.

"How is your Larvitar doing? Did you give it a nickname?"

"Give him time to breathe, Les. The kid just woke up and by the looks of it, he didn't get the best night's sleep," His father smiled as he walked into the room. "I remember those days. Trust me Cutter, your nights only get shorter from here." Cutter's father, unlike his mother, was an excellent trainer bac in his day, even making it to the finals of the Silver Cup once. The backbone of his team, Ledian, sat on top of his father's head. Ledian were generally very weak pokemon. Somehow Cutter's father had unlocked an unseen potential within Ledian. "But yes, tell us about it."

"Larvitar is good. And no, no nickname just yet. He did manage to scrape up my arms pretty bad with all of his thrashing, but it's nothing."

"Oh that's great honey. Just great." Cutter spent the next twenty minutes eating breakfast and talking to his parents about when he would start his journey with Larvitar and where he planned to go and everything in between. Cutter finished breakfast and walked his dishes to the sink. "I've got to go. I'm sure Larvitar is hungry, so I'm going to find him some food."

"Do you know what he eats?" Questioned Mr. Robinson.

"Yes sir. Rocks and earth. But since he's still so young, pebbles and dirt. Which we have plenty of," Cutter said, referencing the garden his mother kept.

"Alright then. You take care," his dad said.

"And don't stray too far. There are Pokemon and your Larvitar can't defend you yet," Cutter's mom added.

The next six months went by in a blur. Larvitar's horn grew, its skin toughened up, and they even began to work on fighting. Larvitar was young, but it was strong. Larvitar certainly would be able to hold its own. It may not win every battle right off the bat, but it sure wouldn't get creamed.

"Larvitar. We leave tomorrow, you know," Cutter said, panting from their jog through the sand. "We've spent the last few months growing and running and working hard, but tomorrow is the day we really get started. Are you ready?"

" _Laiir_ ," Larvitar grunted, nodding his head in agreement.

Cutter smiled and scratched the rock type behind its horn. "Well, it's getting late. What do you say we go in and get to sleep? It's an early morning tomorrow, buddy." Larvitar's only response was to jump and run towards the house. Laughing, Cutter chased him.

Cutter woke up early the next morning, ready to begin his adventure. He hopped off his bed and shook Larvitar gently awake. Larvitar sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes, sand littering the already dirty carpet. Larvitar's constant shedding made it basically impossible for Cutter to keep his room clean. Cutter quickly dressed himself in a pair of running tights, for protection, khaki shorts, a compression shirt, also for protection, a t-shirt with his hardy hiking vest, and his hiking boots. He picked up his backpack and quickly sifted through it, making sure everything was there. He knew it would be, having already put all of his clothes and supplies in the storage balls the night before, but it still felt reassuring to check anyways. Once he was satisfied that he had everything, he headed out the door, Larvitar at his heels.

" _Larri_ ," Larvitar trilled excitedly. Cutter wasn't sure who was more excited to start the adventure, him or his pokemon.

"Good morning honey," said Cutter's mom as he reached the kitchen. "And happy birthday. I made you a plate of eggs and Tauros sausage and Larvitar has a bowl of his favorite rocks from my garden. It's a special day," His mother said with a wink, waving a spatula as she spoke.

"Thanks mom!" Cutter said through a mouth full of eggs, nearly choking in the process.

"Lar!" Larvitar exclaimed and began eating with the same passion as his trainer.

"Like Trainer, like Pokemon," Mrs. Robinson laughed. "Your father really wanted to be here to wish you well, but he got called in today. Something about a breach in security at the lab. Anyway, these gifts are from the both of us. Just know he loves you." She placed a box wrapped with red and gold cellophane paper on the table in front of him and kissed his forehead gently before returning to the dishes.

Cutter tore into the paper, revealing a large cardboard box. Cutter ripped open the top of the box, and inside were five Pokeballs, a great ball, a storage ball, five Potions, a super Potion, and a small tub of berries. Cutters jaw dropped and tears welled up in his eyes, thankful for the gift. "Wow mom. Thank you." He wanted to say more, but he feared he would cry if he kept talking, so instead he sprung up and wrapped his arms tightly around his mother, startling the skittish Clefable that was picking up his plate at the table. "But how did you afford the great ball? They're very expensive."

"It isn't every day your only son turns 18 and starts his pokemon adventure," she said with a wink. Everything in the gift were invaluable to trainers, especially the storage ball. They were a relatively new invention, but they were like pokeballs for items, storing up to sixty pounds of inventory per ball. Without them, trainers wouldn't be able to carry around everything they need.

Cutter pulled a poke ball out of the box and turned to his starter, his face plastered with a grin. "Larvitar, I haven't officially caught you yet, but I need to so that you are officially my pokemon. And I promise that you won't be in this ball for long, just long enough to register you as my pokemon." Cutter paused, letting Larvitar grasp his words. "So, what do you say?" He was confident Larvitar would agree, but there was that second of unknown that had Cutter's stomach turning with apprehension.

" _Larri,"_ Larvitar grunted with a confident nod, although Cutter saw his eyes glimmering with fear and anticipation. It seemed that they were both feeling the same thing. Cutter gave Larvitar a comforting smile and pressed the ball to Larvitar's forehead, sucking him into the ball with a flash of red. The ball wobbled for a moment in Cutter's hand, but quickly came to a rest, dinging its completion. Larvitar was Cutter's pokemon. Cutter released Larvitar and rubbed the Pokemon behind its horn, eliciting a warm grunt from his new pokemon. "Are you ready to start our adventure?" Cutter asked, his voice trembling with excitement. Larvitar smiled and nodded, sending a shower of sand onto the floor.

His mother sighed at the mess and said, "Be careful honey. There are lots of dangerous Pokemon out there."

"I know mom," Cutter sighed. They had been over this a thousand times.

"You're going to New Bark Town, right? That's only a week's walk if you don't get sidetracked. Then you have to come back this way anyways. I swear, Cutter James if you don't stop in and say hello on your walk back through, I'll kill you. I really will," she said, her voice catching in her throat and her eyes threatening to overflow with tears.

Cutter smiled sadly at his mother. As excited as he was to get out on the road, ,he hated seeing his mother cry. "Mom. I'll be back in two weeks, I promise. And I'll stay the night here on my way from New Bark Town to Violet City."

"You promise?" She asked, tears streaming down her face.

"I promise," Cutter said as he pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you Mom."

"I love you too," she sniffled, pulling out of the hug and pushing him toward the door. "Goodbye honey." Cutter turned and he and Larvitar walked out of the door, ready to start their adventure, his mom following them out and waving her last goodbye.

As Cutter and Larvitar neared the edge of Cherrygrove City, Cutter looked back at the quaint town that he had grown up in. Larvitar just looked up at his trainer curiously. He just shook his head, a tear in his eye. He wiped it away and turned around and they began their journey.

xx

Forty-five minutes later and they approached the edge of the woods, marking the real beginning of their journey. "Well Larvitar, this is it. Are you ready?"

" _Lar_ ," Larvitar agreed.

"Alright then, let's go." The outskirts of the woods were bright with the morning light and the sun streamed through the leaves, dappling the ground. The further in they got, the darker the forest became, until finally the only source of light came from the thin beams that the dense forest above let in. The two of them, trainer and pokemon, walked in silence through the wooded area.

"Hey buddy, what do you say we work on some of your moves?" Cutter asked during one of their water breaks. It was a little before noon and they had been walking for almost five hours, only pausing for water or to listen when they thought they heard a pokemon nearby. "I don't want to run into a trainer in here and you not be prepared to battle."

Larvitar nodded, a grin on his face. he had been waiting to learn how to do more than just tackle and bite, but he was patient with his trainer, allowing him to go at his own pace.

"Let me check the Pokedex," Cutter said, pulling out the mobile red pokemon encyclopedia. "I know what moves you can learn, but let's see which ones we should focus on first." Cutter scrolled through Larvitar's information, making note of the moves he could learn early on. "Looks to me like the first moves we're gonna be learning are Sand Attack and Rock Throw. Those are both pretty basic," he said, pocketing the Pokedex in his vest. "You'll have them mastered in no time."

" _Larrii,_ " Larvitar yelled, excited to get some good moves under its belt.

 _How to go about this?_ Cutter wondered, pacing around the small clearing they had stopped to take a break in. "What we could do is practice Rock Throw by having you tear off chunks of smaller rock from larger rocks, but there aren't really any rocks here to do that with," he noted, looking around and seeing only shrubbery. "And if there are no rocks around in your battle then that won't work. We need to work on your ability to pull rocks up from under the earth. That'll be a little bit harder, but worth it in the end, I think," Cutter muttered, at a complete loss. "With Sand Attack, you just throw sand at your opponents to blind them, and considering your body is constantly producing sand, that should be simple enough."

Larvitar just stared up at its trainer and Cutter pulled the Pokedex back out, and looking at Larvitar's page again. "It also says here that you're able to form rocks using your body. Do you know how that works?" Larvitar was silent. "I'll take that as a no," mumbled Cutter. "Let's try pulling from the earth _after_ we try from your body I guess. Although that might be harder to create rocks rather than pull up already existing ones," Cutter rambled, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about, even though the only one around was Larvitar. "Alright. Let's go with Rock Throw first. Try tightening your core. Focus. Really focus. Try and create a rock." Cutter realized he sounded like an idiot, but no one was around to hear. "Hold your hands out in front of you and focus all of your energy into the spot between your hands. Make a rock appear." Twenty seconds went by. Then thirty. Nothing. Cutter studied Larvitar as it focused, walking around his starter, looking him up and down, not really knowing what he was looking for.

A minute went by before he got an idea. "I've got it!" Larvitar stumbled and fell, startled by Cutter's sudden outburst. "You know those holes in your sides? Try focusing all your energy there." Larvitar began to focus again, this time on the black gaps in his side like Cutter told him. Another twenty seconds went by and then thirty. Out of the holes a brown haze began to seep out. Cutter smiled and pumped his fist silently, but he stayed quiet, not wanting to break Larvitar's concentration.

Larvitar, sensing that something was happening, began to put everything his little body had into procuring a rock. " _LAARRI_ ," Larvitar roared, procuring a sound larger than Cutter thought the small pokemon could make. Then followed a _pop_ and a small _thud_. Larvitar opened his eyes and looked up at his trainer. Cutter was happier than Larvitar had ever seen him. Larvitar looked down and by his sides were two small rocks, each no larger than a golf ball. But still, he had done it. They might be tiny and weak and not capable of doing any more damage than causing a bruise, but still Larvitar had done it.

Cutter knelt down to his partner, and pulled the sandy Larvitar close to his body, hugging him tightly. "You ready to try again?" Cutter asked, releasing his pokemon from the hug. Larvitar nodded and stepped back, ready to do it again.

xx

After about an hour, Larvitar had managed to create rocks the size of baseballs, but Cutter wasn't ready to stop there. "Alright Larvitar, time for phase two in learning Rock Throw. I know you're mostly focusing on forming the rocks, but now you need to work on actually throwing them. So as soon as you know that the rocks are as big as they're going to get, give it one last push, grab the rocks before they leave your side, and throw them." Cutter had no idea if this was going to work, but it was the best idea he had.

" _Lar_ ," Larvitar agreed. Larvitar closed his eyes and began to focus again, concentrating harder than ever. Larvitar gave it one last push and swung his arms forward to grab the rocks, but there were no rocks for him to grab. He looked up at his trainer, confused.

"You missed them. They fell before your arms got there. But that's okay! Try again," Cutter said comfortingly and patted his trusty partner on the head.

Larvitar took a deep breath and began to focus everything he had into his core. He gave it one last shove and scooped up the rocks to throw them, but once again, they weren't there. He looked back to his trainer to see what he was doing wrong. Cutter just shrugged his shoulders, as bewildered as his pokemon. "Let me watch from the front and see if I can figure out what's going on."

Cutter stepped to the front and Larvitar began to focus again. He put everything he had into his tiny core, pushing out the brown, rock forming haze. He swung his arms and, once again, nothing. He looked up at Cutter who was smiling. Larvitar cocked his head in confusion, slightly angry that his trainer was laughing at his failure.

"I figured it out! You're closing your eyes. You've got to keep them open so you can see what you're doing. Let's try it one more time. You're going to get it this time, I just know it." Larvitar kept his eyes open and on the brown haze leaking from his body. Larvitar grunted and swung his arms, this time catching the newly formed rocks. Cutter cheered and Larvitar tossed the rocks in the air in celebration.

"That was great Larvitar!" Cutter exclaimed, laughing, before adding, "you just have to remember to throw the rocks!" Cutter reached down and rubbed Larvitar's head, eliciting a contented _hum_ from the Rock Skin Pokemon. "What do you say we try one more time, and then we can take a break? Try hitting that tree right there," Cutter added, pointing to a tree right off the path about fifteen feet away.

" _Larri_ ," Larvitar grunted as he began to create the rocks. He gave it one last push, grabbed them, slammed them together creating a rock the size of a cantaloupe, and launched it at the tree. The rock landed several yards short of the intended target, but still, Cutter couldn't have been prouder.

"That was it Larvitar! That was so amazing! Next, we'll work on your accuracy, but for now, let's take a break. I'm tired and I didn't even do anything."

xx

Cutter and Larvitar rested for a little while next to a pond in a small clearing before Cutter decided it was time to move on. They travelled on through the dim forest for another two hours, not seeing any other trainers and just working on Larvitar's Rock Throw as they went.

Larvitar had not only doubled the size of each rock, but his accuracy was nearly perfect. Sand Attack was looking great too, but that was an easy move to conquer, considering Larvitar just had to push the sand from off his body.

Cutter and Larvitar stepped into a clearing framed with trees when a voice called out "Hey! You there!" Cutter looked up, startled. In front of him, across the clearing, was a boy about his age. "Let's battle."

"Okay. One on one?" Cutter asked the boy, surprised at his abruptness, but maybe that's just how trainers were.

"Yeah. I'll have you know I just started on my adventure yesterday, but I've already got three Pokemon," the kid boasted.

Cutter rolled his eyes. He knew that more pokemon did not equal more strength, especially early in one's journey. "Come on over here and let's get this show on the road," Cutter called out, ignoring the kid's obvious taunt. "You ready Larvitar?"

" _Lar_ ," the little Pokemon replied, holding up a clenched fist.

"We gonna start or what?" The boy asked, readying a pokeball in his hand.

"I'm ready when you are?" Cutter countered confidently.

"Let's see you beat this!" The kid yelled as he threw the pokeball into the air, and in a flash of white light appeared an Elekid. Cutter looked from the pokemon to the trainer in confusion. Didn't this kid know that electric wouldn't do anything to ground types? Then again, he was just a beginner, and not all beginners were destined for greatness like he was.

" _Liika_ ," The Elekid sneered as electricity crackled between the prongs on its head.

" _Larril,"_ Larvitar countered, swinging his horn as he stepped forward, issuing a challenge to the small electric type.

"Larvitar it's bigger than you, but don't let that scare you," Cutter called to his starter. "I'll let you make the first move."

"Big mistake, cause my first move is also going to be my last move." _So he's cocky_ , Cutter noted. "Elekid, Spark!" The small yellow pokemon windmilled its arms, building up electricity in its fur as it ran towards Larvitar. It was surprisingly fast for such a bulky little pokemon, but Cutter knew just what to do to counter it.

"Larvitar, we've been working on your speed for a while now. Wait until it gets closer, then jump!" Larvitar readied himself as the Elekid closed the gap between them. "Now!" shouted Cutter when Elekid was close enough. Larvitar grunted in response and flung himself to the side, stumbling but remaining on his feet. He regained his balance and turned to the Elekid who had tripped. "Now, stay back from it and Sand Attack!"

"Elekid, another Spark!" Elekid began swinging its arms again, running towards Larvitar.

"Larvitar jump out of the way again!" At the last second, Larvitar jumped out of the way, but one of Elekid's swinging arms connected with Larvitar, slamming him into the ground. The electricity itself didn't do any damage thanks to Larvitar's ground typing, but the force from the blow still did.

"Larvitar, get up and use Rock Throw!" Cutter bit his lip and let out a breath as Larvitar stood up shakily, but okay. He was made of rock, so even a relatively hard hit from a strong Elekid wouldn't do much.

The other trainer seemed to know that Rock Throw would do a lot of damage to an untrained Elekid so he had to act fast. "Elekid get in close." Elekid sprinted towards Larvitar, windmilling its arms to build up electricity. Larvitar began to focus and a brown haze seeped from within his small body, creating rocks as quickly as he could.

Elekid was fifteen feet away and Larvitar was still forming the rocks. _That'll have to do,_ Cutter figured. He waited a half second more for Elekid to close in more before yelling "Now!" Larvitar gave it one last shove, the rocks almost doubling in size from the last burst of effort. As they began to fall, Larvitar caught them and slammed them simultaneously into the face of the Elekid who was right in arms reach of Larvitar. Elekid flew back a few feet, and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Realization of Larvitar's washed over Cutter and he ran over to his starter and embraced him, trying to pick up the heavy pokemon but failing, resigning to just a simple hug. "You did it buddy! You did it!" Cutter was laughing, overcome with joy at his first win.

"Good match," the other trainer said begrudgingly, handing over the allotted amount of prize money after he recalled his Elekid to its Pokeball.

"Hey you too," Cutter smiled, glad the boy wasn't taking the loss too hard. "That Elekid of yours is strong. What's your name, by the way?"

"Terrance. I'm from Cianwood but I got my sister to teleport me to Cherrygrove this morning. Since Cianwood is an island, I didn't want to start from here. I just started my adventure yesterday."

"Cool! I'm Cutter. I got started this morning," Cutter told Terrance, happy he had made a new acquaintance.

"You just started this morning and Larvitar already has a Rock Throw that strong?" Terrance asked incredulously.

"Yeah!" Cutter chuckled. "I'm just getting on my feet. But me and Larvitar are pretty tired. I think we're going to call it a day and bed down here for the night. Do you want to join us?"

"Sure," Terrance said, smiling, making Cutter smile back. He was glad he didn't have to spend his first night out in the wilderness by himself, even if he wouldn't admit that to the boy. "I'm pretty tired, and I know Elekid is too." Cutter pulled out a can of beans and Larvitar walked to the water's edge to find some stones. Terrance released his three Pokemon and began searching through his bag for some Pokemon food.

"Spinarak and Zubat. Nice!" Cutter said, gesturing towards Terrance's other two pokemon.

"Sure are," the other boy beamed. "Cutter, meet Spinarak and Zubat. I caught Zubat last night. Then I caught Spinarak this morning while she was still asleep. It seemed unfair, but I figured, hey! I'm a new trainer. I need all the help I can get." He laughed and scratched Spinarak on the back gently.

"True!" Agreed Cutter. He wouldn't admit it to Terrance, but he was jealous that the other boy had more than one pokemon.

After talking for some time, the boys settled down to sleep. "Larvitar, do you want to sleep out with me or in your Pokeball?" Cutter asked, even though he already knew the answer. Larvitar curled up on the ground next to Cutter's sleeping bag and Cutter smiled, petting his rocky friend. "Goodnight buddy."

xx

A few hours passed when a sharp _crack_ from the forest woke Cutter up. He was immediately alert. The last several months of sleeping with a baby pokemon taught him how to wake up quickly. He looked around, trying to figure out where the sound had come from, but his eyes couldn't make anything out in the darkness. Larvitar had awoken as well and was glaring at a dark spot in the tree line "What is it buddy?" Cutter whispered to the Larvitar.

" _Larrri larv_ ," the Larvitar grunted softly. However how well Cutter had grown to understand Larvitar's sense of speech over the last six months, he still had no idea what they young pokemon was saying.

"Do you want to go check it out?" The Larvitar nodded in response so Cutter crawled out of his sleeping bag as quietly as he could and began to creep towards the bushes, flashlight in hand ready to be turned on when Larvitar gave him the signal.

" _Larv_." Cutter flipped on the flashlight, but nothing was there.

"I guess it's gone. Oh well. Let's get back to sleep." And with that the two partners laid back down. Cutter drifted off almost immediately, but Larvitar stayed awake for the next several hours, determined to keep his trainer safe from whatever threats the forest might offer.

Cutter and Larvitar woke the next morning less rested than they would have liked. It was their first time sleeping outdoors, and it was not nearly as glamorous as Cutter hoped it was going to be.

He pushed himself up to a sitting position and threw his arms up over his head, stretching and letting out a yawn. He glanced over at where Terrance had been sleeping the night before, but the tall, red-headed trainer as gone. "Oh," Cutter said glumly. He had been looking forward to travelling with the boy, at least for a little while. "Oh well," Cutter muttered as he rubbed Larvitar behind his horn and the small rock type pokemon cooed with pleasure.

He stood up and began packing up his things, not wanting to waste too much time in one place. He was ready to get going.

"Hey Cutter!" Cutter swiveled around as he was rolling up his sleeping bag and saw Terrance emerging from the forest's edge across the clearing.

"Terrance! Hey! I thought you had left us," Cutter called back, a smile on his face.

"Naw, I just went to take my pokemon to eat. I went into the forest because there's more food for my pokemon there. Zubat and Spinarak both like to catch their own food." The boy shuddered slightly.

"Oh yeah. Larvitar just eats rocks, so he's pretty easy to feed! But I'm sure it'll be more difficult when we get into more urban areas." Cutter finished rolling up his sleeping bag and placed it neatly within a storage ball next to a map of Johto and a journal.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to travel together?" Terrance suggested. Cutter didn't reply for a second because he had half a granola bar in his mouth, so Terrance quickly added, "just to New Bark Town. From there we both go our separate ways, but for now, as early trainers, it's usually best to travel with someone?"

"Yeah! I was going to suggest the same thing!" Cutter smiled, happy that he and Terrance were on the same page.

xx

The rest of their journey through the woods to New Bark Town was uneventful and slow. Cutter and Larvitar perfected Rock Throw and Sand Attack and they even began to make some headway into Sandstorm, the next move Cutter wanted Larvitar to learn. Since Sandstorm was meant to be sustained for long amounts of time over a large area, they just worked on it being a more controlled and higher powered Sand Attack because Larvitar didn't yet have the stamina to perform a true Sandstorm.

They continued to have one-on-one battles, but after the sixth day, Larvitar was getting too tired to battle. There was only so much potions could do. What Larvitar needed was a good rest at a Pokemon Center.

xx

It was seven a.m. on the morning of their ninth day and Cutter and Laritar were working on Sandstorm before they started the final leg of their journey to New Bark. "Focus on it being a sand attack, but instead of just throwing it, try and make it rise from your body and move around in the air." While Larvitar was having trouble with Sandstorm, Cutter was having trouble explaining just exactly how Larvitar should perform the moves. Larvitar did as Cutter told him but it didn't seem to make much difference.

"Hm," Cutter murmured, rubbing his temples. _It is too early in the morning for this_. "We've been working on this for the last couple days and you're able to make it into a stronger Sand Attack, but we need to make it more… elemental? And the Pokedex says that you won't be able to fully control the earth until you're evolved, which won't be for a while." Cutter pondered this for a minute before it came to him. "What about a miniature Sandstorm? It doesn't have to go all around the field, just make it envelop you. Focus it and sustain it. Unlike sand attack where you release the sand, continue your control on it. Something else that might help is keeping the sand connected to the ground. Try and make it into a vortex that travels on the ground. That way you can keep getting new sand from the ground and you can keep the elemental control in your realm, not in the air."

Cutter and Larvitar worked on Sandstorm until even Cutter was tired. By the end of the training session, the small pokemon was able to keep the sand flowing for about fifteen seconds before it fell out. Elemental control was difficult, especially for young pokemon.

"You're doing great Larvitar. Let's give it one more shot before we go back to Terrance."

 _"Larr,"_ Larvitar grunted in agreement, his breathing heavy and labored from the labor of the last hour. He closed his eyes and dust began to swirl up from around Larvitar's body and formed in a tiny ball around. Larvitar put all the energy he had left into the Sandstorm and with a final push, the ball expanded four feet around him, a sphere of pure swirling sand, easily his was his best attempt so far. Cutter pumped his fist silently, not wanting to break his starter's concentration.

"Just a little longer!" Cutter called as the Sandstorm faltered slightly, but after a second it held. Larvitar was so tired, though, that he couldn't keep full control of it, and it flew out from his body and collided with a tree, exploding on contact and coating the small clearing in a brown dust.

"Great job, Larvitar!" Cutter laughed, spitting sand out of his mouth. Cutter motioned to the Larvitar who began to follow him back to camp. They had reached the opening of the clearing when they heard a small growl behind them. Cutter spun around and in front of him on all fours and covered in sand from the Sandstorm was the tiniest Teddiursa Cutter had ever seen. Cutter gulped, worried, because usually when there was a Teddiursa this small, there was a mama Ursaring close behind. Cutter pushed that to the back of his mind. He could deal with that if the time came, but for now he would stay alert.

"Larvitar, you up for a battle?" the boy whispered to his friend. Larvitar nodded and stepped forward shakily, still exhausted from the training. "Are you sure?"

 _"Larriv,"_ Larvitar grunted determinedly.

"Sandstorm!" Cutter called as he pulled an empty pokeball from his vest pocket. Larvitar started a Sandstorm, pulling up dirt around him, making him practically invisible, but the little bear wasn't about to go down without a fight. The tiny brown pokemon rushed at Larvitar using what appeared to be a very basic Quick Attack. Cutter was taken off guard because the Ursaring line were generally bulky and not fast.

Teddiursa leapt into the Sandstorm but quickly threw itself back out, unable to take the harsh lashing of the sand. Even though it was small, the sands in the Sandstorm still whipped around violently within its small confines.

Teddiursa wasn't about to give up, though. Without slowing, Teddiursa began to circle its foe, the glowing stars of Swift forming in the pokemon's open maw. Teddiursa reared her head back and launched them directly into the Sandstorm, completely disintegrating it. "Larvitar, Tackle!" Cutter called as the Teddiursa sped back in with another Quick Attack. He was sure that Larvitar could handle whatever the untrained Teddiursa could throw at him, but he didn't want Larvitar taking unnecessary injuries.

 _"Larri!"_ Larvitar lowered his horn and charged.

"Now push and fling!" Cutter cried out, a smile playing at his lips. Push and fling was simple. It was basically just Larvitar using the opposing pokemon's momentum against them. Once the attacking pokemon got close enough to Larvitar he would lower his horn and then fling his head upwards to throw the pokemon up and behind him. It wouldn't work well on bigger opponents while Larvitar was still so small, and once he evolved it would have to be adjusted, but for now it worked. Cutter was excited to see this tactic play out on a pokemon not expecting it. So far it had only been used on Terrance's Elekid who vowed to help him as long as he helped the other boy with his own variation of a Thunder Punch.

 _"Eddu,"_ Teddiursa yelped as it flew into the air. Cutter watched with a smile as it worked nearly to perfection. Teddiursa went a bit too high and not quite far enough behind Larvitar, but the ratio of height to distance could be worked out later. Larvitar landed a Tackle as soon as Teddiursa hit the ground, throwing it backwards.

Surprisingly, the little bear wasn't done. The pokemon pushed itself up onto two feet and glared at Larvitar who stared back unflinchingly. A dusty brown haze poured out of the indents in his side, a Rock Throw in the works.

With a defiant but weakened, " _Eddu,"_ Teddiursa ran at Larvitar again, this time more warily. The rocks continued to grow as Teddiursa closed the gap between the two pokemon. "Run and slam them!" At his trainer's command Larvitar grabbed the rocks and ran at the Teddiursa, whose claws grew a dull white with an underdeveloped Scratch.

As the two met halfway, Larvitar sidestepped Teddiursa, who reacted quickly, throwing her paw out and landing the Scratch. If Larvitar wasn't made of rock, it might have done some damage. As it was, though, Larvitar absorbed the scratch and allowed Teddiursa to barely get past him before turning and slamming the watermelon sized rocks into the back of the bear's small body.

Teddiursa crumpled to the ground and as he readied the pokeball, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The tiny bear began to push itself back up. _That is one resilient pokemon_ , Cutter admitted to himself. He figured that it was weakened enough to catch, even if it did still want to battle. He threw his pokeball, sucking in the Teddiursa with a flash of red. After ten seconds of frantic shaking, it seemed that this pokemon really was a fighter, the ball dinged it came to a stop.

"We did it Larvitar!" Cutter cheered, jumping up and down. "We caught our first pokemon!"

 _"Larri,_ "Larvitar yelped back, joining in on the excitement.

"How about we check out this little guy, huh?" Cutter asked as he picked up the pokeball, his hand trembling slightly with a sort of nervous excitement. The first pokemon he ever caught was right there. Larvitar nodded.

With a flash of white light, Teddiursa appeared on the ground in front of Cutter and Larvitar. It glared angrily at Larvitar but didn't stayed still, which Cutter took as a good sign.

"Hey Teddiursa," Cutter began, hoping the tiny bear could understand him, maintaining firm eye contact. Even though Teddiursa was young, he needed to establish dominance. If he didn't make it known early on that he was in charge, that could lead to rebellion later on. "My name is Cutter and this is Larvitar."

 _"Lar,"_ Larvitar grunted his greeting and nodded at the new pokemon.

"We want to become the strongest trainers in Johto. Maybe even the world someday," Cutter added hopefully. "Do you want to join us? I can make sure you get as strong as you can get, and maybe even stronger than that. How does that sound? Do you want to come with us?"

Teddiursa glared at Cutter, not breaking the eye contact, seeming to think this question over for a moment. Finally, the little bear gave a jerk of its head. "Alright then. I'm going to grab you an Oran Berry from my pack for you to eat so you can gain back some of your strength, and while you munch on that, I'm going to scan you." Teddiursa nodded again. He had no idea if Teddiursa understood what he was saying.

Cutter reached into his bag to pull out an Oran Berry and the Pokedex. He handed the Teddiursa the berry who took it warily from his hand. He aimed the Pokedex at Teddiursa and a red light ran over the pokemon, identifying it.

" _Teddiursa. The Little Bear Pokemon,"_ The Pokedex droned and Teddiursa looked at the strange machine in alarm. " _If it finds honey, the crescent mark on its forehead glows. Teddiursa allows the honey to soak into its paws which allow them to constantly stay sweetened, which the Teddiursa will lick whenever it pleases. This Teddiursa is a female and knows the moves Scratch, Baby Doll Eyes, Swift, Quick Attack, and Fake Tears and its ability is Quick Feet which increase its speed when it has a status condition. It is eight months old."_

"Huh," Cutter murmured. _So Teddiursa is a little older than Larvitar but clearly not as strong. We can fix that with a little training. The moves aren't great but she's still young. That ability will be nice, especially when battling opponents that rely on status conditions. Both of my pokemon's abilities rely on status conditions. Interesting. But if she's older than Larvitar, why is she so small? Aren't Teddiursa usually bigger._ "So, I'm asking both of you this. Would either of you like a nickname?" Larvitar nodded enthusiastically while Teddiursa hesitated. After a moment, the Little Bear pokemon nodded its head jerkily.

The three of them spent the next couple of minutes picking out nicknames, most of which both Larvitar and Teddiursa shot down.

"Silver?" suggested Cutter, holding his head in his hands. At this point he was just tossing out random ones, so he was surprised when Larvitar perked up. "Silver?"

 _"Larrivi!"_ Larvitar squealed, uncharacteristically jubilant for the rock type.

"Are you sure?" Larvitar nodded excitedly, rubbing his horn on Cutter's chest, immediately wearing the material thin. Mt. Silver was the largest mountain in the Johto region and Cutter figured that Larvitar had some sort of connection to the place. It was probably where his mother and father were from, and somehow Larvitar knew that. "Silver it is then," he said smiling.

"And you Teddiursa. You're up." Teddiursa, who was curled up in her trainer's lap, had taken a quick liking to the boy, but not to his nicknames. She was, it seemed, even pickier than the Larvitar.

Finally, Teddiursa decided on Bellow. It would be a fitting name once she evolved into Ursaring, but for now it was just a hint of what the Tiny Bear would become.

xx

As the human and two pokemon made their way back to their camp from the night before, they heard a loud _whoop_ ring out from beyond the woods. Cutter ran with Bellow and Silver close on his heels. He didn't recognize the holler as Terrance's.

They stepped into the clearing to find Terrance returning his fainted Spinarak as a tall, older trainer with pitch black hair and a Marowak by his side smiled smugly back at him.

"That'll be 150 pokedollars," the older trainer said as he swaggered over to the red headed boy. Terrance pulled out a wad of bills and slapped them ashamedly into the opposing trainer's hand.

"Try not to lose all your pokemon to just old Bones here next time huh?" The trainer smiled gesturing to the large Marowak who grunted in response.

"And who are you?" The trainer's eyes narrowed as he noticed Cutter standing at the edge of the clearing. "Do you want to lose to me too?"

"Oh, no. Neither of my pokemon are in any shape to battle. Sorry." Cutter said, struggling to keep his voice steady. The older trainer was obviously more skilled than either he or Terrance, and Cutter really didn't want to be robbed—or worse—today. Silver stepped forward, swinging his horn angrily.

"Your Larvitar doesn't seem to think so. He seems like he wants to want to fight," he grinned, his tone sarcastic and jeering.

"No. You're in no shape to battle," Cutter said to Larvitar firmly. Begrudgingly, Larvitar stepped back to his trainer, never taking his eyes off the large Marowak or boy.

"Smart move, kid. I'll see you losers around." And with that the older trainer sauntered off into the woods, his Marowak following closely behind.

"What was that?" Cutter questioned, walking to Terrance, who was busy applying potions to his weakened pokemon.

"Some older trainer who was wandering by. I challenged him to a battle. I didn't know he was that good or else I wouldn't have. None of my pokemon lasted longer than five seconds. It was crazy," Terrance sighed, shaking his head. Cutter could tell that Terrance was upset with himself, so he decided to drop it. He knew he would be angry if he was in the same situation. "But it looks like you got a new pokemon! Teddiursa?"

Cutter grinned and looked back at the bear. "Yeah!" Cutter was happy to talk about the newest addition to his team. "This is Bellow, my Teddiursa."

 _"Eddui,"_ Bellow cooed softly at the ginger, making him laugh softly.

"She looks tough," Terrance admitted. "What do you say we head out? I've already packed up all of my stuff."

Cutter nodded in agreement, having already packed up all of his stuff before going to train that morning. "How much longer is it?"

"We should get there by this afternoon as long as nothing awful happens," Terrance replied.

"Well let's hope that nothing awful happens!" Cutter laughed, picking up his bag off the ground as Terrance led the way into the woods.

xx

Sure enough, by three that afternoon, New Bark Town was in sight from the top of the hill that they stood on. It was a tiny town with a population of less than a thousand, but that's why Johto's number one Pokemon Professor, Professor Elm, conducted his research there. He didn't have to worry about too many people messing with his studies.

"I'll race you there!" Terrance laughed, falling into a sprint away from Cutter before he even finished the challenge. With a smile and a good five seconds behind, Cutter took off running.

"WHOOOO!" Cutter yelped as he ran down the hill, a huge, dumb smile plastered on his face, the wind whipping at his clothes and face, making him teary eyed. Silver ran behind him as fast as his stubby legs would carry him while Bellow sat on Cutter's shoulder. The brown-haired trainer couldn't be happier.

xx

Cutter wandered through the streets of New Bark Town, Silver waddling along beside him and Bellow perched on top of his shoulder. Terrance was walking on the other side of him, Elekid at his heels. "So, where do you think Professor Elm's laboratory is?" Terrance questioned, looking around at the buildings on either side of the road.

New Bark Town was a simple town, not even having a Pokemon Center or PokeMart of its own. It depended on Professor Elm and his laboratory to provide care and healing for their pokemon, which he did without complaint.

"My mom told me that it would be easy to tell. Biggest building in the town," Cutter replied, preoccupied with the young Larvitar pulling on his pants leg. "Silver, you know I can't pick you up. You're too heavy for me."

 _"Lar,"_ Silver complained.

Cutter sighed and crouched down, setting Bellow down in front of him next to Silver. "Hey. This is the first town we've all traveled to together. You know what that means?" Silver cocked his head in confusion while Bellow scratched at the ground, not paying attention to her trainer. "There will be some other beginner trainers here that we can battle for practice. That means that you'll get your first real battle Bellow. How does that sound?" Bellow looked up at her trainer with a bored expression. Cutter frowned and picked Teddiursa back up as Terrance led the way once more.

xx

Nearly half an hour later, Cutter and Terrance turned onto a simple dirt lane on the very outskirts of New Bark Town, almost out of the town completely. at the end of which sat a huge white building. "That's gotta be it," Terrance assured Cutter.

The two boys made their way down the dirt road and Cutter went to knock on the door, but before he could, it swung open, revealing a brightly lit entryway and a plump young woman with a smiling face. "Yes, how may I help you?"

Cutter jumped backwards, surprised by the door opening so quickly. "Oh, um. We're new trainers. And we came here to to to register," Cutter stuttered.

"Ahh of course. Come on in," the woman said, her voice soft and comforting. _She must be used to dealing with new trainers,_ Cutter figured.

The two followed her in, and she shut the door behind them, locking it with a firm _clunk_. "I'm Hannah, one of Elm's assistants," she said, spinning around to face them, her glasses slightly askew on her round face. "Sorry it's so bright in here. During the day, we have to crank up the lights in order for the electrical flow to be sufficient enough to feed the electric pokemon. They feed off the generators around back that are connected to this building." She marched past them and paused in an open doorway across the room. "You said you need to register? Well, follow me," she added, turning, not even waiting for their response.

Cutter and Terrance sped after her, struggling to keep up as she navigated the labyrinth of hallways in the lab.

"Here we are," she announced, stopping suddenly at a large white desk in what Cutter counted to be the tenth room they had gone through. "Sorry we had to come so far back. If the Professor were here, we could use the main registration desk in the front, but since he isn't, we have to come back here." She moved around the desk and flipped a switch on a small white machine, straightening up a few papers as she waited for it to turn on. "So, who's first?"

Cutter nodded to Terrance who stepped forward. "I am."

"What was your starter?" she asked as she began typing on the computer in front of her.

"An Elekid," Terrance replied, gesturing towards the small electric type at his feet.

"Where are you from?" she questioned, not looking up from the computer.

"Cianwood. Started out a week and a half ago."

"And how did you get here?" Hannah asked, finally looking up from whatever it was that she was typing.

"My sister teleported me to Cherrygrove, and I journeyed from there."

"Alakazam?" Hannah inquired.

"No, Kadabra actually," Terrance replied. "It's building up to evolution currently. That's why my sister had her Kadabra teleport me so far. He's pretty close to evolution, if I'm not mistaken."

"Ahh. Yes. Based on that confused look on your face, you don't know the specifics of the Kadabra to Alakazam evolution, do you?" Hannah asked, looking at Cutter.

"I'm afraid I don't," Cutter replied sheepishly.

"Nothing to be ashamed of," she smiled, and Cutter felt that she meant it. "The only reason I know is because one of Elm's big ongoing projects has to do with evolution of pokemon via unnatural methods. For example, Kadabra. See, most pokemon like your Larvitar or Teddiursa, will evolve once they're old enough and have gained enough experience. But some pokemon don't evolve based on age or battle experience. The Abra line is known for its psychic abilities and teleportation, so once Kadabra has built up its psychic abilities enough, generally done by increasing its teleportation distance, it will evolve. Elm is currently researching more into the specifics of it, but nothing I'm allowed to share currently."

Cutter nodded, not sure he really understood, but it still sounded cool. "I knew Kadabra didn't evolve regularly, but I didn't realize it happened during teleportation."

"Do you have a Pokedex?" Hannah asked, returning her attention back to the computer. Terrance just shook his head. "That's alright. I can get you filled in manually."

Hannah spent the next several minutes asking Terrance a variety of questions. Cutter tuned it out after a few of them and just looked around the room.

"And you?" Hannah asked. Cutter was staring at a poster on the wall of Professor Elm with a Seaking and didn't hear her.

"Cutter," Terrance whispered, nudging Cutter with his elbow.

"Hm, what? Sorry," Cutter said sheepishly, swiveling his head back to face Hannah.

"Do you have a Pokedex?" Hannah asked, smiling.

"Yes!" Cutter answered, swinging his backpack from his bag and rifling through it. He finally found the small red device and handed it to her.

Cutter spent the next few minutes actually paying attention, but lucky for him his Pokedex did most of the work. It already had all of his information programmed into it, so Hannah didn't have to ask him for anything, except to confirm his birth date.

"Alright," Hannah said, handing Cutter back his Pokedex. "You two are all set to go. Before I walk you out, would either of you like for me to heal your pokemon? We don't have a Pokemon Center here so I would be happy to take care of that for you."

The two boys nodded enthusiastically as Cutter returned Silver and Bellow and handed their pokeballs to Hannah, who turned and placed them on a large, gray machine that lit up with a fluorescent blue. "None of them have any intense injuries correct? Just tiredness and soreness from battle?"

"Correct," Cutter replied. The three waited there in silence as the machine finished the healing process.

"They're all healed and rested. I can see you two out then if there's nothing else I can assist you with," Hannah said with a smile.

"Wait, we don't get to meet Professor Elm?" Terrance asked as Hannah led them back to the front of the lab, navigating her way through the maze.

"He's not in New Bark Town at the moment, I'm afraid. He's not even in Johto at all. Away on important business," Hannah frowned, disappointed to deliver the bad news.

"Dang," Terrance muttered, kicking at the floor. "Can you at least tell us what the business is?" Cutter looked at Terrance in disbelief. He wanted to meet the professor just as badly as Terrance, but he would never ask a question like that.

"One last thing," Hannah began, stopping at the entrance to the lab, completely ignoring Terrance's question. "Once you collect four badge, you are able to store your Pokemon here for free. Until you collect four badges, it is a small fee per month. But you don't have to worry about that until you have more than six pokemon. Even then, you don't have to store your pokemon here if you don't want to. There are various facilities dedicated to that sort of thing or you could talk to your parents about taking care of them. At least while they're young." She smiled warmly at them, then, with a wink, added, "I wouldn't recommend your parents keeping a full grown Tyranitar that doesn't belong to them in their backyard."

"Thank you Hannah!" Cutter laughed as he and Terrance exited the laboratory. Hannah waved goodbye and shut the door.

"What a bummer about Elm," Terrance proclaimed as they walked down the dirt road, back toward the town.

"Yeah. It would've been awesome for sure." Cutter stopped, crouching down to pull out a couple of Oran Berries. "These are for you two, for being so well behaved in there. Thank you," Cutter said sincerely to Silver and Bellow, handing them each two berries. "You can have more to eat once we get to the campsite, but that was just a little treat for now. Bellow, once we get to a town with an actual store, I'll get you some honey. How does that sound?"

The Little Bear pokemon grinned, her razor-sharp teeth glinting in the afternoon light as she nodded her head excitedly. Cutter scratched her forehead, right in the middle of the pale-yellow crescent moon.

She closed her eyes and gave a soft _"eddui,"_ of delight.

"And you," Cutter said, turning to Silver. "Pretty soon we will be back in Cherrygrove and you can have some of Mom's garden rocks."

" _Larri,"_ Silver hummed contentedly as Cutter rubbed behind his horn.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Terrance asked. "We do need to sleep somewhere. It'll be dark in a couple of hours and I don't want to start journeying again until tomorrow."

Cutter pulled out his Pokedex and began to type. "Well, according to the Pokedex, there are a few trainer campsites ten minutes outside of the city. How does that sound?"

"Perfect!"

xx

Cutter and Terrance wandered into the campgrounds, which turned out to be just a huge field with tents scattered around it.

"There's still an hour or two of daylight, so I think we're going to get some training in," Cutter said. "I haven't really had a chance to train with Bellow yet and I want to see what she can do."

"Do you want to battle me?" a girl's voice called. Cutter swiveled around to see a short, blonde girl holding a pokeball, staring him down.

"I'm always down to battle," Cutter responded, smiling. "Two on two?"

"Sure thing. I may be just a beginner but I promise I'm tough," the girl scowled, as if daring him to argue with her.

"So am I, so this is perfect," Cutter smiled.

"Guess I've got my work cut out for me then," she said, smirking. "2 on 2 battle. No subs." The girl tossed a pokeball, releasing an Oddish, and Larvitar stepped forward. The small purple pokemon shook the leaves on its head in what Cutter was sure was supposed to be menacing, but mostly it was just cute. Cutter smiled and the girl glared at him, making his smile shrink.

"Silver, use Rock Throw!" Silver glared at Oddish as a brown haze seeped from the black indents on his torso.

"Oddish, run in close and use Absorb." Cutter stifled a laugh as Oddish began to run, or waddle really, toward Silver.

"Wait for it," Cutter called out. "Now!" Cutter cried, as soon as he was sure Oddish was close enough.

" _Lar,_ " Silver grunted as he let the rocks fall into his hands. The Larvitar hurled the first rock at the Oddish's feet. Oddish stumbled and Silver's next rock connected with Oddish's face, launching it back several feet.

"Oddish no! Are you okay?" the girl called out.

" _Oddish odd oddi_ ," the Oddish confirmed as it pushed itself onto its feet using the leaves grass on top of its head like arms.

"Good girl. Fine then. Time to play the distance game. Oddish, Razor Leaf." The Oddish began to spin its head in an odd circle, building up momentum before releasing the razor-sharp leaves, sending them flying towards Silver in a green blur.

"Silver, jump out of the way!" The small rock skin pokemon attempted to jump out of the way, but Silver wasn't built for speed and the razor leaf clipped his left side. Larvitar was looking tired and the gouges in his rock were noticeable. "Silver, are you good to keep going?"

" _Larri lar_." The Larvitar grumbled resolutely, forcing himself up. Cutter noticed that he was favoring his right side.

The girl pumped her fist in the air and yelled, "Oddish, use Razor Leaf one more time!"

"We won't fall for the same trick twice," Cutter said to himself. "Silver use Sandstorm, quick." Immediately sand began to fly off of Larvitar, forming a swirling orb of sand all that encompassed him completely.

"I need this one to be your biggest yet. Come on buddy you've got this." Cutter's words rang out clear for the Larvitar and he began to put everything he had into it for his trainer. Concentrating as hard as he could, Larvitar willed the sand around him to rise up and the sandstorm grew to be nearly 6 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter, easily the largest one the young pokemon had ever created. "Now release!"

 _"LARRI!"_ grunted the Larvitar as he gave one last push. The Sandstorm flew across the field, easily destroying the leaves the Oddish had released and quickly crossing the distance between the two opposing pokemon. Cutter and the girl had both covered their eyes and when they looked up, both of their pokemon were collapsed, fainted. Oddish, from the attack and Larvitar from sheer exhaustion. He had never put forth so much effort into one attack.

"Return," both trainers called out in unison.

"You did excellent buddy," Cutter whispered to the pokeball as he gently kissed the it. It quivered once before Larvitar settled into stasis.

"One to one," the girl called out. "I'm sending out my Poliwag." The girl threw another pokeball, this time releasing a small blue bipedal pokemon with a black swirl in the middle of its white stomach and a tiny pink mouth.

"Another armless pokemon. You got a thing for those?" Cutter called out with a chuckle. "Bellow, time for your debut." Teddiursa bounded out, in awe after watching her friend Silver battle so well. She hoped to be able to battle as well as he did and make Cutter just as happy.

"Poliwag, use Bubble! And stay far back, those claws look sharp." The Poliwag tensed its body and from the swirl in its stomach released a flurry of small, highly pressurized bubbles.

"Bellow, Swift on the Bubbles!"

 _"Eddu,"_ growled the Teddiursa as glowing stars formed at her maw. With a flick of her head she released them, popping the Bubbles and creating a beautiful display of gold and blue that Cutter would have marveled at, had he not been battling.

"Now run in fast with Scratch. Try and get in close and stay close." Cutter's newest partner bounded towards the Poliwag with surprising speed for something so small. Within seconds, Bellow had made it to Poliwag and had begun to slash at her opponent with small, razor sharp claws. They glowed softly, signifying just how far Bellow had to go until she had mastered even a small move like Scratch. A real Scratch would make her claws shine bright. But even with the underpowered Scratch, when they made connection with the Poliwag's rubbery wet skin, it hurt the little blue pokemon.

 _"Liio,"_ the Poliwag yelped as it stumbled backwards, its two stubby feet unable to keep it standing.

"Keep it up! Scratch again!" Bellow flew into a storm of Scratch attacks, clawing relentlessly at the helpless blue pokemon.

"Poliwag, Water Gun!" Cutter's opponent called out desperately, seeing that Poliwag was in trouble.

The tadpole pokemon shot a blast of pressurized water from its stomach swirl, but Bellow was quick enough to pull its head back and dodge the Water Gun before using another flurry of Scratches.

Cutter marveled at the ferocity with which his partner was attacking. The attacks weren't refined or powerful by any means, but Bellow was giving it everything she had. And to top it off, it seemed as if the Teddiursa had a knack for moving. Not only was she fast, but she was quick and agile as well, bobbing and scratching. She was never in one place for more than a second before popping up in a new place. Then suddenly, there was nothing left for Bellow to Scratch. The Poliwag had disappeared in a flash of red light.

"Poliwag was too slow. There was no way she was going to be able to hit your Teddiursa. Good battle." The girl was walking towards Cutter as she talked. "I'm Carly."

"Cutter," he said. Cutter thought she was cute when they were first talking, but now he realized that he had severely underestimated her looks. She was gorgeous. With blond hair that flowed down to her neck and blue eyes that sparkled in the setting sun, she could easily be a model. She reminded Cutter of a gym leader from another region that he had seen on TV once, but he couldn't think of her name.

"Let's sit down. My camp is right over here. You two can set up by me if you like." Carly led the two boys over to where her sleeping bag was set up.

"That was awesome, Cutter," Terrance exclaimed. "Teddiursa is so fast. I've never seen one so fast. At least not in person."

"What do you mean?" Cutter asked, the confusion evident on his face.

"Well," interjected Carly, cutting off Terrance before he could speak, "pokemon of the same species are genetically the same. For the most part. But sometimes pokemon adapt to their surroundings and based on what they need. And sometimes the Ursaring line will produce baby Teddiursa that are smaller, lighter, and, overall, faster, if that's what their environment needs. And it looks like that's what happened with yours. She probably won't be as strong as others in her line, but what she lacks in sheer power she'll make up for in speed and quickness."

Cutter paused for a moment, taking in her words. Considering she had just started out on her journey, she certainly knew a lot about pokemon. "Oh. That makes sense. That's why Bellow is so much smaller than other Teddiursa of the same age," Cutter replied.

Cutter, Terrance, and Carly gathered around the campfire. Cutter and Carly released their pokemon. "We won, Silver! Bellow beat her Poliwag! Isn't that awesome?" Cutter asked his starter, expecting an excited response in return. Instead, Silver looked down, refusing to make eye contact with his trainer. "What's up buddy?" Larvitar's only response was to turn away from his trainer. "Silver. What's wrong? If you don't tell me, I can't help you fix it."

" _Lar la lari_ ," the small pokemon mumbled, jabbing a tiny clenched fist at Bellow.

"You're upset because of Bellow?" Cutter asked confused. Larvitar nodded dejectedly, rubbing his paw in the dirt. Then it hit him. "You're upset because you fainted and Bellow took down a pokemon without fainting?"

Larvitar just nodded again, still staring down at the tiny mound of sand he had conjured up. "Silver. Look at me." The Rock Skin pokemon looked up at his trainer dejectedly, barely making eye contact. "You took down an Oddish. You had a type disadvantage and you've only been in one real battle. You didn't even faint because of the Oddish. You fainted because you pushed yourself harder than you ever have before and made your sandstorm the biggest and best that it has been. That's nothing to be ashamed of bud. I'm so proud of you."

" _Larv_?" Cutter's first partner asked, looking up at his trainer.

"Yes really. I could never be anything but proud of you buddy." Larvitar smiled and pushed his horn forward, Cutter meeting him halfway with his forehead. They pressed forehead and horn together, both closing their eyes and smiling, becoming one. "Thank you for battling so well. Both of you," Cutter said looking over at Bellow as well.

Bellow yelped and leaped into Cutter's lap, Cutter responding scooping her up with a hug. "Let's get some potions put on you. Silver, how do those cuts on your side feel?" Cutter asked, gesturing to where the razor leaf attack had left gouges in Silver's tough hide.

" _Larvi lar_ ," the Larvitar said, trying to act tough. Cutter saw straight through it.

"I'll get both of you a potion. How about that?" Larvitar shook his head in protest. "Not cause you're in pain. Just cause we're going to be battling and training a lot more these next couple of days and I need you in prime condition." Cutter paused. "How does that sound?" Reluctantly Silver relented and allowed himself to be sprayed with the medication. Teddiursa gave no protest and accepted it.

"I'm going to go to bed," Terrance said. "It's an early morning tomorrow. I'm going to head out. Go my own way."

"Oh," Cutter replied, the announcement hitting him like a punch in the gut. He knew that they would split up after New Bark, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. If he was being completely honest with himself, he had forgotten that they would eventually go their separate ways "Where are you going from here?"

"I'm going to go to the river to the east of New Bark and see if I can't find a strong water type. Then from there, I'll probably head to Violet City. Falkner won't stand a chance against my Elekid," Terrance said, smiling as he rubbed Elekid between his prongs, electricity jumping between them as a result.

"Nice!" Cutter said, but he felt anything but _nice_ about it. "Well, I'll see you in the morning to tell you goodbye," Cutter said to the other two. The three trainers said their goodnights and everyone got into bed.

Bellow pushed her way into the sleeping bag, burrowing down by Cutter's feet. She licked them softly before settling down. Silver took his place a few feet from Cutter's head where he would keep watch until he drifted off to sleep.

"Goodnight guys. See you bright and early for a good day of training and traveling," Cutter

whispered to his friends before drifting off to sleep quickly himself.

xx

The next morning Cutter was awoken by Bellow crawling up from the foot of his sleeping bag, sunlight just barely steaming over the tops of the trees.

"Ugh, what time is it?" mumbled Cutter, pulling his Pokedex out of his backpack to check the time. "6:30? You couldn't have stayed asleep any longer Bellow?"

The Little Bear pokemon cocked her head, confused as to why her trainer wasn't fully awake just like she was. "Fine. Since you're up I guess I'll get you some food." Cutter pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and dug around, finding some pokefood for Bellow. As he dug for food he noticed that Carly had already left. "Oh well," Cutter mumbled. He felt a tug on his shirt and Cutter turned to see Silver. "You hungry too?"

" _Lar lar_ ," the Larvitar nodded. Cutter rubbed the sandy pokemon on his horn, scraping the skin of his palm a little, then turned back to dig some more food out for his starter to eat. Even though Silver could survive on the earth alone, a little extra food didn't hurt him.

As his pokemon ate he leaned back against a log that marked the edge of their camp and scrolled through the information in his Pokedex about Teddiursa. He wanted to see the moves they could work on learning and training they could do today. He knew that he wanted to perfect Scratch and work on some different strategies with Swift, but in terms of new moves, he was stumped. Slash could come eventually, but first Scratch had to be perfect. Lick was an option, but generally one would need a ghost type teacher in order for a normal type, or most other types for that matter, to properly learn and perfect ghost moves. The otherworldly energy was so incredibly foreign to most other pokemon that learning ghost type moves was a near impossible challenge. So, Lick was out of the question, at least for now.

Then it hit Cutter. Metal claw. As he worked on Scratch, he could also begin teaching Metal Claw. The beginning of teaching steel type moves generally just involved hardening the body part being used in the move, which in this case could be the claws. After the claws were hardened, they could figure out where to go from there.

"Well Cutter, I'm heading out," Terrance said as he strolled over to Cutter, Elekid by his side and his pack slung over one shoulder. "It was nice to travel with you."

"Same to you man. I can't wait to battle you next time we meet," Cutter smiled, standing up to shake the boy's hand.

"Neither can I. You're going down for sure," Terrance replied with a wink. "See you around." Cutter watched as Terrance walked away, not looking away until he had disappeared into the forest.

"So, what do you two say we do a little training before we head back to Cherrygrove?" Cutter asked his team. His two pokemon cheered and Cutter smiled. "Alright. Bellow, we're going to work on perfecting Scratch. Right now, it's doing damage, but it's not reaching its potential. I want you to go over to those rocks over there," Cutter pointed to a small cluster of rocks at the edge of the forest, "and use Scratch on them over and over again. Not only will that help Scratch get stronger, it'll start developing your claws for Metal Claw." Teddiursa nodded in agreement and began to bound over to the rocks. "One more thing girl. Constantly move. I want you working on that speed. We'll do some running exercises later, but for now I want you to constantly move while you're attacking. Got it?" Bellow smiled, or as close to a smile as a Teddiursa could get, her razor-sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight and dashed back to Cutter. She nuzzled his leg then sprinted away again.

"Now for you," Cutter said, looking back to Silver. "I want you to work on Sandstorm. But we're going to add a twist to it. Right now you're focusing mostly on sand from your body and the ground, but what do you say we throw some rocks in there too?"

Larvitar cocked his head in confusion, " _Lar_?"

"I want you to use Rock Throw while you're using Sandstorm. But instead of making big rocks like we've been working on, I want you to make small rocks. A bunch of them. And constantly release them while the Sandstorm is around you. You don't need to catch them and throw them, just let the sandstorm take them. Make sense?"

Larvitar thought for a second before nodding determinedly. "Alright Silver. You work on that over here. Don't focus on making the Sandstorm big right now either. Just try to focus on both of them happening at the same time. We can perfect it later."

xx

Two hours later Cutter was sandy and sweaty, the sand mixing with the sweat and dripping down his face like a mud slide. Even though it wasn't even close to midday the sun was still beating down on them. Cutter collapsed onto the ground smiling despite his tiredness so early in the day. Both Silver and Bellow were making excellent progress. Scratch was close to perfect. Her claws were definitely getting harder and Bellow was fast, faster than Cutter had realized. For now, her stamina wasn't the best, but they would get there. She had excellent natural instincts that kept her bobbing and weaving, not just running in straight lines.

Silver had almost perfected what Cutter was calling Rocky Storm. He still wasn't able to keep the sandstorms up for very long, but he was able to create small rocks and have them fly around pretty quickly. The stamina would come in time with training for both of them. Cutter would definitely have to see the two of them battle. They seemed to be relatively evenly matched with Larvitar probably having the upper hand, simply because he was basically impervious to normal type attacks. Other than that, he could see the match going either way. He smiled to himself softly. He was going to have a good strong team someday, he could just feel it.

"Hey you two, let's get on our way. I want to be back in Cherrygrove in a week from today," Cutter said as he pushed himself up. He had promised his mom he would be back sooner and already knew she was going to be upset that he was late—several days late. "We're going to have to move at a faster pace than coming here but we can do it."

xx

As they journeyed back towards Cherrygrove, Silver created and threw small rocks, and Bellow scratched every tree and rock that they passed. They didn't stop again until the sun was at its highest point. Cutter pulled out some food, not even bothering to ask if they were hungry. They seemed to always be hungry.

xx

The next several days went just like that. They trained as they walked. Silver was able to control small Sandstorms with rocks in them for longer. Bellow had Scratch down perfectly and her Baby Doll Eyes and Fake Tears were developing nicely.

It was midafternoon a week later and Cutter and his team emerged onto a path from the woods. "Yes!" Cutter exclaimed loudly, startling his team. "This trail is only a mile from Cherrygrove. We'll make it back right as Dad is getting off of work. Let's jog there, get in a little bit of cardio before you two get to eat good tonight!" They set off running with Bellow leading the pack and twenty minutes later had arrived at the front door of Cutter's old house.

Cutter leaned down to Bellow, "you've never been here, but this is where I used to live and grew up. My mom and dad live here. You're about to meet them. They love me a lot. Like I love you. Don't be afraid of them." Bellow nuzzled Cutter's leg. She wasn't particularly shy, but you could never tell just how exactly a pokemon would react to new people. "And Silver, you remember Mom and Dad, right?" The Larvitar nodded with a smile, probably thinking of the rocks from Cutter's mom's garden, his favorite treat.

Cutter opened the door, but not before Bellow could climb up Cutter's body and perch on top of his head. "Mom?" Cutter called out.

Out of the hallway stormed a very angry mother, just like he had expected. "Cutter James Robinson. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Cutter winced, stepping back slightly as his mother's tirade continued. "You said you would be back in no more than two weeks. And you didn't call. Not once. I was worried sick. I wanted to call the police but your father insisted I was just being overemotional. I just-," his mother's words were cut off by a hug and Cutter could tell that she really had missed him if the death grip of a hug was anything to go by.

"I'm sorry mom. There was no pokemon center in New Bark so I didn't have access to the video phones. And I got caught up travelling with someone who wanted to go a bit slower so he could train more. But I'm back now." He smiled softly, hoping that would calm her.

She smiled back, cupping Cutter's face in her hand. "Dinner will be ready in an hour. Go upstairs and get settled in, it's good to have you home."

Cutter took a deep breath, scared to break the news to her. But, he powered through. "Mom, I'm leaving in the morning. I want to challenge the Violet City Gym in about a month. And it takes two weeks to get there and that would give me about two weeks to train before challenging the Leader. And that's if everything goes according to plan." He paused as she looked on expectantly, as if waiting for more. "I have to leave tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. But I have to be ready for the Silver League Conference in two years."

"I understand honey. Don't worry. You can still sleep in your bed. And get a good shower," she smiled at him and he sighed with relief. Overall, that whole interaction had gone much better than he was expecting it to.

"No, no no," his mother chimed as he turned to walk away.

"What?" Cutter asked, looking back.

"Who's this cutie?" she gestured towards Bellow.

Cutter laughed and introduced them.

"Well hello Bellow," his mother cooed before declaring she had never met a cuter pokemon. Other than her darling Clefable, of course.

Cutter clambered up the stairs to shower, his sore legs groaning in protest. When he walked into his room post shower he realized that his pokemon could use a good cleaning as well. With Larvitar's skin being so sandy, he would just need to be wiped down with a damp cloth. But Teddiursa would actually have to go into the bathtub. He wasn't sure how she would feel about that.

"You two need baths," Cutter told them. They cocked their head quizzically. "Water. Soap. Clean," Cutter explained. Suddenly Larvitar began to violently shake his head, sand rising up off of his body like a defense mechanism. "Silver no. You don't have to get in any water. I'm just going to wipe you down with a damp towel. You don't have to get in any water. Don't worry." Larvitar calmed, the sand falling down onto the floor. Another mess Cutter would have to clean.

He started their bath time by wiping down Silver, who took it surprisingly well. At times, it even seemed like the Rock Skin pokemon enjoyed it. The washcloth Cutter used was torn to shreds, however due to Silver's sandpaper like skin.

Then came Teddiursa. Bellow was a different story. She had never had much interaction with water other than drinking it, it seemed, and by the end of it Cutter wasn't sure who was wetter—him or Bellow.

He dried himself and her off, laughing at the huffy look she was giving him, and cleaned up his bedroom and bathroom, which were a mess thanks to Bellow's resistance. "Mom, I'm going to run to the store. There are some supplies I need to get tonight before I head out in the morning," he called out as he opened the front door to leave.

"Your father just got home. Let him get changed and then we can all go together!" she said back, sticking her head into the hallway.

A few minutes later the family headed to the store. The evening was pleasant and Silver and Bellow walked out with Cutter and his parents. His father was especially happy to see him, but even happier, it seemed, to meet Bellow and see how well Silver was doing.

At the PokeMart Cutter got a brush and honey for Bellow. He figured she would enjoy being brushed. Plus, it would make her prettier and it would be a chance for them to get to spend time together.

For Silver, he got a poketoy that was advertised as "THE TOUGHEST POKETOY ON THE MARKET!" Cutter chuckled when he saw it, the letters bold and yellow. Cutter knew that Silver didn't like not being able to sleep next to his trainer, but as he had gotten older his skin had gotten rougher, eventually making it impossible for them to sleep next to each other. Hopefully the poketoy would help. Then they made a quick stop by the Pokemon Center so that Silver and Bellow could be healed so they didn't have to do that the next morning.

For the rest of the evening, as Cutter and his family sat around the dinner table, eating a delicious, home-cooked meal, Cutter filled his parents in on all of his adventure so far, from catching Bellow to Silver taking down an Oddish with a type advantage and everything in between. Cutter told them the story like it was some grand adventure, when in reality it had just been a few weeks at the very beginning of his journey. Still, his parents were amazed by all of it, or at least they acted like they were.

Several hours later, after stories from his parents' traveling days as well, he excused himself to go up to bed. He had an early start in the morning.

xx

Cutter woke up around 7 am and, for the first time, was awake before both of his pokemon. He woke them gently and they got ready to head out as quickly as they could. He scarfed down a breakfast of eggs and toast while his parents stood by and watched amusedly. Then his dad gave him a ride to the edge of Cherrygrove on his way to work.

Cutter's father slowed to a stop and placed a hand on his son's shoulder before giving him a comforting squeeze. "Bye Cutter. Be safe, and don't forget to call your mom. She misses you." Cutter smiled and thanked his father before hopping out of the truck. He watched as the dust from the dirt road overtook his father's truck and it faded from view He released Silver and Bellow and they began to walk.

Cutter and his team stayed on the path through the forest, and the next few hours were uneventful. They were about to stop for lunch when Cutter thought he saw movement ahead of him. It lasted no longer than a second, so Cutter convinced himself it was just the wind rustling the branches.

But as they continued to walk, his uneasy feeling refused to fade away. "Shh," he whispered to his pokemon, gesturing for them to be still. For a moment, Cutter saw nothing and figured he had just made it up, but then he saw it again.

He began to creep forward, motioning for Silver and Bellow to follow behind him. Suddenly an older man leapt out of the bushes. Cutter screamed and fell backwards. Silver and Bellow stepped between them, both baring their teeth, ready to fight.

Cutter gulped and stared up at the old man. He was a little shorter than Cutter was, but in better shape. The man had wispy white hair on top of his head and a beard that came down to his chest. He wore a torn yellow robe and no shoes, yet despite his bedraggled appearance this man gave off an air of authority and power and he stood tall and proud.

"I challenge you to a battle, trainer!" the old man croaked. It sounded like he had been a heavy smoker back in his day. Or maybe it was just because the man lived in the woods and didn't speak much. "I see you have pokemon and therefore you cannot refuse."

"Whoa. You scared me there," Cutter laughed as he stood back up, dusting himself off. "I'd be happy to battle you, but I'm allowed to refuse your challenge."

"No boy you aren't. You must be a newbie. There's a law that says if you have pokemon and you get challenged to a battle you must either battle them or pay the loser's fee," the old man retorted. Cutter was uneasy, but the man looked like he probably had some tough pokemon that he didn't want to have to deal with and, probably, couldn't deal with.

"Sir," Cutter began, trying his best to be respectful yet firm, "that law was abolished years ago. Too many skilled trainers were challenging weak trainers and hurting their pokemon or stealing their money." This was true. Around the same time that the training age was changed, this law was also changed. Too many casualties and new trainers quitting or turning to crime because of it. _But why doesn't this man know that?_

"You're lying boy. I can see it in your eyes." The man was starting to creep closer. Then, faster than Cutter would have thought possible, the old man pulled a pokeball from his neck and threw it, releasing a clearly powerful Skarmory that screeched and ruffled its metallic feathers.

The Skarmory, like its trainer, stood tall and proud. The silver feathers stretched from the bottom of its torso to the top of its neck, and under its wings were more metallic feathers, but they were red instead of gray. Its legs were a silvery metal along with its head and feet. All in all, the bird was a majestic and powerful sight to behold.

"Sir, I don't want to battle you," Cutter said, knowing that there was no way either Silver or Bellow could even hurt this Skarmory. Fear was finally seeping into Cutter's body and both Silver and Bellow could tell. Sand started to rise around Silver and a growl formed in Bellow's throat, threatening the Skarmory to just try and attack her trainer. The Skarmory didn't even glance at them. "I'm just going to leave now, okay? I'll go back the way we came." Cutter started backing away and motioned for Silver and Teddiursa to follow him.

"You're not going anywhere. I said we must battle."

"I'll pay you the fee, sir? Would that be alright?"

"No. I demand a battle. Don't want money."

Cutter ran over his options in his mind, but there were few. He could try and return Silver and Bellow, but more than likely that Skarmory could easily get to him and slice him in half before he could reach his pokeballs. But if he tried to battle it would end just as poorly. Cutter decided to concede and battle. "I'll battle you sir, but the only two pokemon I have been these two."

"That's fine boy. Just give it everything you've got." The man's tone was mischievous and he had a sly smile that Cutter didn't like, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Bellow, you're up first. Show them what you've got," Cutter sighed nervously, afraid for his pokemon's fate.

"Celine," the man nodded before making a series of clicking noises and the Skarmory, apparently called Celine, nodded in return, but it was a slight nod that Cutter barely noticed. _So he commands his pokemon without using words?_ Cutter asked himself.

Cutter sighed before commanding his pokemon into battle. "Bellow use Swift!" Bright golden stars formed at the maw of the Little Bear pokemon. She let them charge for a second before, with a flick of her head, she fired them directly at the Armor Bird pokemon.

Instead of trying to dodge them, the bird simply raised her beak and let the attack hit her head on. An angry look plastered Bellow's cute face. The last couple of days she had been using Swift on stray Caterpies and they usually fainted after one or two attacks. She hadn't yet encountered a challenge that just took the Swift straight on, much less without reacting at all. She didn't like it. She took it as an insult to her strength.

She fell onto all fours and sprinted toward the Skarmory. "Metal Claw!" Teddiursa's claws hardened and glinted a dull gray, signifying the progress she had made in Metal Claw. She slashed at the torso of the great bird, but suddenly, the bird was gone. With a great leap and flap of her wings, she was fifteen feet above Bellow.

"Above you!" Cutter called out desperately. "Quick Swift!" Quick Swift was a technique they had been working on that was similar to Silver creating small rocks. Bellow would quickly make several small swifts and then run into a quick attack as she fired them. They didn't expend as much energy or focus, allowing her to stay on the move. It wasn't perfect yet since that they had just started learning it, but it was coming along nicely.

Celine dove towards Bellow and the Little Bear sent a flurry of tiny Swifts at the bird as she began to sprint away, Celine spinning through all of them gracefully. Cutter couldn't help but stare in awe at the bird's skill.

But as fast as Bellow was, the powerful Skarmory was faster. Before Teddiursa could get more than a couple feet, the Skarmory had her pinned to the earth with one foot, and with the other, Celine the Skarmory was preening her feathers, looking haughty and proud.

But trapped as she was, Bellow was not giving in, firing small swifts that the Skarmory wasn't even bothering to dodge. She just let them to bounce off her metal armor, doing less than no damage. "Return," muttered Cutter, knowing it was a lost cause. "Good job Bellow. You fought well until the end." He kissed the pokeball and returned it to his vest pocket. "You're up Silver. Just do your best and stay back," Cutter sighed. At least Bellow wasn't hurt.

 _"Larri,"_ the Larvitar nodded in agreement and ran onto the field, ready to avenge Bellow as best he could.

"Not bad for a Teddiursa so young and fresh. But you have a lot to learn," the old man smiled as he twisted his mustache.

For some reason, that made Cutter angry. He grit his teeth and called out, "Silver use Sandstorm. Don't focus on big, just make sure it's concentrated and strong." The Rock Skin pokemon began to make sand rise and fall and swirl all around its body until it was nothing but a shadow in the cloak of sand. Unfortunately, the sandstorm was so small that the Skarmory was guaranteed to hit Silver if she went at the Sandstorm, but Cutter didn't plan on letting her get that close. Not yet at least.

"Rocky sand and let it lose," Cutter called. The Sandstorm, now filled with tiny rocks, flew free, no longer held close by Silver. The Sandstorm flew across the field and Cutter shielded his eyes as its winds kicked up dust around him. Yet again, Celine took the attack head on. When the Sandstorm died down a few moments later, Celine had still taken no damage. Cutter could tell that Silver was angry, but Silver stood his ground, not allowing his emotions to get in the way of his battling.

"Return Celine," called the old man. "You did well old friend. But we're going to let a new friend battle." He returned the ball to his neck and pulled a different one out.

"Oh no," muttered Cutter. _Surely whatever he's about to release will be just as strong, if not stronger._

"This is my newest friend." He tossed the pokeball and in a flash of white light appeared a Cacnea, a grass type native to Hoenn. Cutter only knew what Cacnea was because of a documentary on deserts he had watched in school. The Cactus pokemon was short, probably half the height of Larvitar. It was circular and green with two club like arms that were longer than its body. Its whole body was covered in dangerously sharp spikes and its legs appeared to just be elongated, thicker spikes. It looked up at Cutter with big eyes and he thought it could almost be cute. "Pear, you're about to battle. Get ready."

 _"Curra,"_ the Cacnea gurgled, bouncing from one spiked leg to the other happily.

 _This old man looks like he's been out in the wilderness for years. How did he get a pokemon that was native to Hoenn? Hoenn is closer than Unova or Kalos, but it's not somewhere that a man living in the wilderness could get to easily._ The thoughts were pushed from his head when the man commanded Cacnea to use Tackle.

"Silver wait for it. Then push and flip." Larvitar waited while the Cacnea ran, or waddled, much like the Oddish, as quickly as it could to him. When Pear was close enough, Silver pushed his horn under the Cacnea and launched him upwards. Pear wasn't moving fast enough to have very good momentum, so it just landed right behind Silver instead of flying farther away, and the old man didn't miss a beat.

"Needle Arm!" The Cacnea's arm glowed a bright green as the thorns covering it doubled in size.

"Silver look-." Cutter's cry of warning was cut short when the Needle Arm slammed into Silver's back, throwing him several yards away. A few seconds went by with no movement from Silver. Cutter sighed and reached for Silver's pokeball. But then, shakily, Larvitar pushed himself up, unwilling to be done quite yet. He was clearly in pain, but he wasn't about to let his trainer down. "Yes!" cried Cutter, relieved that his friend was able to stand after the super-effective attack.

"Impressive. Pear, use Absorb." As the closed the difference between the two, its arm glowed green again. _A physical variation of absorb._

"Silver, Sand Attack."

 _"Lari."_ The Rock Skin pokemon fired small bursts of sand from its body at the Cacnea, but it wasn't doing anything.

"What the heck," muttered Cutter. "Push and flip again, to the side." Instead of waiting for the Cactus pokemon to get to him, Silver ran forward to meet him, which Pear wasn't expecting. With the added momentum, Silver was able to launch Pear slightly farther than before. "Now, Tackle," yelled Cutter who was beginning to gain some hope. Before Pear could hit the ground, Silver turned around and Tackled Cacnea, throwing it into a tree.

" _Carruc_ ," the Cacnea gurgled weakly as it struggled to stand.

"Rock Throw, finish this!" Cutter yelled.

Larvitar concentrated and pushed to make the biggest rocks he could as he ran toward Pear. He gave one last push, caught the rocks, and slammed them towards the Cacnea.

"Pear, use Needle Arm on the rock," the man called out, unnaturally calm considering how close to fainting his pokemon appeared to be.

Needle Arm and Rock Throw collided and Cacnea was thrown backwards, slamming into the tree again. Pear forced himself up, but was barely able to and Larvitar was struggling to stand. The blast had damaged Silver more than Cutter had realized. Now, it was just a waiting game to see who fell first.

"Silver, you can do it!" Cutter cried out. He knew that if Silver could stay standing just a moment longer, then Pear would collapse first, and they would win. "You can-." He was cut short as Silver collapsed ending the battle.

Cutter pulled out Silver's pokeball and recalled him, before returning it to his vest. The man returned Pear as well and began to walk towards him. Suddenly, Cutter was fearful again. This man was powerful and now Cutter was completely defenseless.

"Good match. Your pokemon have potential, as do you," the old man remarked, the craziness completely gone from him.

"Wait. What?" Cutter asked, completely confused.

"Nothing, nothing. Here. Use these on your pokemon." The man said, pulling out a potion from his bag and handing it to Cutter.

"Wait. Sir," Cutter began, his mouth agape. "This is a max potion. These things are crazy expensive. How did-."

"I get one?" The old man finished Cutter's thought. "I'm not as crazy or as poor as I first made myself out to be."

"Who are you?" Cutter asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I've been following you for the last couple of hours," he said, twirling his mustache as he healed his Cacnea with another max potion. "I watched you train as you walked and decided I wanted to battle you. You were fun, especially with Pear. She hasn't had much battle experience yet." As the man talked, Cutter released his pokemon and began to spray them both with the max potion on their open wounds before finishing the potion off by pouring it into their mouths. "I can help you refine a couple of those techniques if you would like."

"Yes sir. Please," Cutter said, jumping at the opportunity. He didn't know who this man was or what quite to think of him, but he knew he couldn't turn him down.

"How about we eat lunch and then we can work? How does that sound?" 

"Awesome," Cutter said, his stomach growling loudly at the thought of food. He laughed. "Guess I'm hungrier than I thought."

"Come on out," the old man called as he released three more pokemon. Celine came outf. The next two caused Cutter to stare in awe. "This is Miner, my Excadrill, and this is Lady, my Pangoro." The Excadrill, a steel and ground type, had a silver and gray body. Its head had a protruding cap covered in metallic spikes, its arms the same way—white and covered in metallic spikes. All in all, the Subterrene pokemon strongly resembled a drill. A drill that held itself with pride, much like the Skarmory.

Then there was the Pangoro, a dark and fighting type. It appeared to be smaller than most Pangoro, but Cutter knew very little about the Kalos region's pokemon. However small he thought it was, it still towered over him and even under its thick black and white fur, its muscles bulged visibly. The Daunting pokemon had completely black eyes and a small twig hung precariously from its lip. Protruding from its back were two long tufts of fur, resembling a cape.

Cutter was brought out of his awe of the pokemon by the man setting down a few bags of berries. "I have all kinds," the man remarked, referring to the berries. "For both Silver and Bellow I have Chople berries. Bellow can have just straight Chople, but for Silver I'll mix the Chople with a Babiri berry."

"What do those berries do, sir?" Cutter asked. He had heard of these berries, but wasn't quite sure what they did. He craned his neck in to get a better look at them. They were very rare, he knew that for sure.

"Chople berries help build up a resistance to fighting type moves, which both of your pokemon are weak to," the man explained. "When Silver evolves into Tyranitar eventually he will have a double weakness to fighting types, due to his part dark, part rock typing. Babiri berries build up a resistance to steel type moves, which Silver is weak to as well. It's smart to start building up these resistances early on while their bodies are still developing. Both fighting and steel types can be devastating and common, especially in the Silver Conference and overall, the competitive world."

As the man spoke, Cutter pulled out the bucket of honey for Bellow to soak her paws in. Her paws had tiny, special ducts that allowed the honey to soak in and be stored for later so she could suck on them as she went about her daily life. It helped especially for wild Teddiursa who didn't have honey constantly available, but Bellow wouldn't pass it up either.

"Where can I get berries like this? They're very rare, aren't they?" Cutter inquired.

"Yes they are. And expensive too. I have a good harvest of them here. Honestly it's hard to get a steady supply of them unless you're an established and relatively wealthy trainer," the old man admitted.

As Cutter's pokemon finished their lunch, they began to interact with the three older pokemon and Pear, although Silver was ignoring Pear. The older pokemon were very tolerant of the two young ones and entertained them quite well.

While the pokemon played together, the two humans made idle chitchat while they finished their meal. Cutter told the man everything he had experienced so far. He told him that he hoped to be the best trainer in Johto and, eventually, the world someday. Cutter told the man some of the pokemon he really admired and who his favorite trainers were.

Throughout the entire conversation, the man didn't laugh or act like his dream was unreachable or silly like the kids from Cutter's town did. Quite the opposite, actually. The man was very supportive. But he also made sure Cutter knew that it would be a long and difficult road that would sometimes not seem worth it.

"But as long as you look at your pokemon and know that they're fighting just as hard for you as you are for them, you'll realize why it's worth it,"' the man smiled, gazing lovingly at his pokemon playing in the clearing. "When all of you are sitting around a campfire at night, just being _together_ , that's when you'll realize it's worth it. Even if you never become the champion of the world someday, you can still realize that everything you have done has been worth it. Even after the tournaments and trophies fade away, your pokemon and your memories will still be there." The man grew quiet and Cutter absorbed what he had said. Something made him think that not everything had gone in this man's favor. "What do you say we train?"

Cutter jumped up and proclaimed, "Yeah!" His pokemon looked at their trainer curiously. "Silver, Bellow, it's time to train!"

"Silver is going to start with Miner. Miner is going to work with him mostly on Sandstorm, but if Silver is a quick learner, then Miner will move on with what he feels is best." The man shooed them away to begin before moving on.

"Bellow will split her time between Celine and Lady. She'll start with Celine, who will work with her Metal Claw. Considering that your Bellow has had no training with a steel type, her metal claw is impressive. It's very weak, sort of like an over glorified Scratch, but the fact that her claws are as hard as they are is an accomplishment. The other half of her training with Lady will involve speed and power. As you noticed, Lady isn't as big as one might expect a Pangoro to be. The average Pangoro is seven foot and 300 pounds. Lady here is barely six feet tall and 200 pounds. I noticed that Bellow is smaller than most, am I correct?"

"Yes sir," Cutter said, trying to soak in everything the powerful trainer was saying.

"My Pangoro was born with a mutation. A mutation for a smaller frame with less muscle mass but the ability to be quicker and lighter on her feet. Where Pangoro is from, their main predator is Pyroar, a very fast pokemon that travel in packs. Pancham and Pangoro, unlike the Pyroar, are not herd pokemon nor are they particularly fast. They were strong, but when the large groups of Pyroar began targeting individual Pancham and Pangoro, they were going down without so much as a whimper. So, as it happens in nature, adaptations began to occur. The Pancham began to be born smaller and lighter. They couldn't hit as hard, but they could run. Thanks to this adaptation, the Pangoro line were able to escape from the Pyroar. Up until a couple of years ago the Pancham-Pangoro population was considered endangered, but since the adaptation occurred, their population has increased significantly. I'm guessing that this is what happened with your Teddiursa. Funny how even in different regions, the same things can happen to similar pokemon." Cutter nodded in agreement, hanging on to his every word. "So with Lady, she's going to teach Bellow how to hit hard using momentum, but also using that momentum to keep on moving past the hit. Your Teddiursa is fast, you just have to capitalize on it. Understand that it's still relatively rare. It takes a long time for adaptations to become common. The Teddiursa-Ursaring line has not been known to have this adaptation until recently. Capitalize on this difference."

Cutter nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"You and me will just hang back and watch them train. My pokemon know what to do. But you need to stay in sight so that your pokemon believe that you're invested in this and care," the old man said. Then, turning to the pokemon, "You all can begin. Miner, Celine, you two know what to do. Lady, you can come sit with us until it's your turn." The Pangoro wandered over to the two trainers who were sitting by a tree, but instead of sitting, Lady opted to stay standing instead, looking out with her all black eyes.

Cutter watched as the pokemon began to train. They started off by talking, or the pokemon equivalent at least. He watched as Silver stepped back and watched the Excadrill perform a small sandstorm. He watched as Silver attempted to replicate it, but apparently, Miner the Excadrill was not satisfied with the performance of Larvitar. Cutter turned his attention to Celine and Bellow. The Armor Bird was making its claws flash and screeching at the Little Bear, and Bellow was rapt with attention.

"Call me Ray," the old man, Ray, said. Cutter wracked his brain, trying to think of any famous trainers with the name Ray, but none came to mind. Maybe he wasn't anyone Cutter had ever seen before. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew who this man was, somehow.

"And I'm Cutter. I don't think I ever introduced myself either," Cutter reached out his hand and Ray took it, grasping it firmly.

"You said you're from Cherrygrove?"

Cutter nodded. "Yes sir. I used to live in Azalea Town until I was five, but some… stuff happened there and we moved to Cherrygrove," Cutter explained as he watched Silver work on Sandstorm. "I don't really know what happened. My parents would never tell me, but I think it had something to do with me. All I remember is that it wasn't really our choice. My parents fought lot right before we moved. Other than that, I have no idea." Cutter sighed. He hadn't thought about that part of his life in a long time. He was older now, so it might be worth revisiting with his parents. Maybe they would tell him something more.

"I see," Ray said, blank faced. Cutter noticed that the old trainer was very good at keeping his emotions masked. He could only imagine what Ray was thinking. "You have no idea other than that?"

Cutter looked over at Ray and asked, "No sir. Do you know anything?"

The man hesitated for a split second before answering, just barely long enough for Cutter to notice. If he hadn't been paying attention to Ray, he might not have picked up on it at all. "No, I'm afraid I don't. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I did. I'm just interested is all." Ray paused. Then, as if to change the subject, said, "Do you like Cherrygrove?"

Cutter thought about lying to the man, telling him that school was great and that he loved it, but there was no point in lying to Ray. This man wasn't his mom or dad. Ray wouldn't be overbearing or plead with him to tell them what was wrong. "It was fine. School was okay. The kids there made fun of my dreams of becoming the World Champion, but I enjoyed playing soccer and researching pokemon stuff. I actually did a lot of research on regions outside of Johto. Since I grew up here and my dad was a good trainer back in the day, my eyes were constantly opened to new pokemon and places. We weren't super wealthy or anything, but my father traveled a lot in his training days so I got to see his foreign pokemon, which were very interesting to me. That's what led me to research so much about other regions. I hope to travel to all of them and win the league in each one."

"You do know how hard it is, correct?" Ray's tone was firm but there was a twinkle in his eye. "I'm not trying to discourage you at all, I just want you to know that the road to World Champion is a long and difficult one filled with heartache, defeat and disappointment. There can only be one, you know." 

"I know," Cutter admitted. "But I have to try. I've dreamed of this since I was a child. Other people are fine with getting desk jobs or being teachers but I've never been as happy as I am now, traveling with my pokemon. And I know that so far nothing bad has happened. But with my pokemon by my side, I know that I'll be able to handle it."

"Good," Ray replied with a smile. "If I were able to push you off the path of your dreams that easily, then it wouldn't really be your true passion at all."

They sat in silence for a few minutes watching the pokemon train until Ray called over his Cacnea. "Pear, I want you to attack the Larvitar and Teddiursa randomly. Don't go full force, but don't hold back too much."

 _"Carruc,"_ Pear gurgled before waddling away.

"Wait, what? Why are you having your Cacnea attack my pokemon?" Cutter asked incredulously, leaping up.

Ray grabbed Cutter's wrist firmly, pulling him back to a seated position. "Your pokemon need to be able to focus on more than one thing at a time. While there may be only one other pokemon battling them, they need to constantly be aware of everything at all times. Don't worry. Your pokemon will be fine. They're more than capable."

Cutter thought for a second before conceding. "Yeah. You're right," he admitted. He watched as Pear snuck up behind Larvitar and hit him with an Absorb covered arm right in the back. Larvitar stumbled and looked around to find the Cacnea smiling at him. Silver went to Tackle Pear, and Miner stomped, a wall of dirt rising up from the earth between Silver and Pear, making it apparent that Silver was not to engage in battle with the Cacnea. He immediately turned back to his mentor, his eyes shining with awe. He wanted to be able to call up walls of earth.

"Wait, Silver can't fight back?" Cutter asked.

"Silver can defend himself before the attack, he just can't fight back. He needs to focus on training but keep an eye out at the same time. But Silver should have a much easier time of keeping track of Pear than Bellow."

"Why's that?" Cutter asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Larvitar are part ground type, part rock type, so they have an innate and natural connection to the earth that just ground or just rock types don't have as strongly. Now I know that Tyranitar isn't a ground type, but if you help Silver to develop this ability now, it will remain just as strong when he evolves and loses that dual typing." Ray paused as Miner pulled up another wall of earth, destroying the Sandstorm that Silver was conjuring. "Part of Miner's teaching will be to train Silver to feel the earth as an extension of himself and as a body part to be utilized, not just a tool or a place to stand." Cutter nodded in what he hoped looked like an understanding nod as he watched, even though he was still a little confused.

As time went on, Cutter saw that Silver's Sandstorms were becoming more refined. No longer were random bursts of sand flying out of the storms or the sides quivering, signaling a collapse in the attack. Clearly Silver was making progress.

Then there was Bellow, who had finished up with Celine and was now working with Lady. They were sparring, simple hand to hand combat, no moves allowed. The Daunting pokemon was showing Bellow how to twist with the punches and to constantly keep her body moving, even when she wasn't running.

Cutter smiled when he realized what Lady was teaching Bellow. She was teaching the Teddiursa how to fight like a fighting type—her only weakness. If she was able to fight with the same mobility and form as fighting types, then that would make her that much harder to beat. For now, not many fighting types were as small as her, but when she was an Ursaring it would make a huge difference. Bellow was a quick learner, constantly twisting and turning, bobbing and weaving. She would duck or turn when the Pangoro threw a punch, then attempt to throw one right back. Lady would, of course, block or dodge the blow with ease, but Cutter could tell that Bellow was making progress.

Another hour had passed and Silver was effectively stopping Pear from attacking each time the Cacnea tried to sneak up on him. Ray said it was because Silver was, more or less, effectively using the ground as an extension of himself, feeling out with the earth to see where Pear was at any given moment. Bellow didn't have the same advantage that Silver did, but she made do in her own way. Since she was constantly moving, it was hard for Pear to sneak up on her, and she was able to keep her eyes out everywhere with all the different vantage points.

Ray broke the silence, throwing out a little advice to Cutter. "Normal types are very good at picking up moves of other types. Sometimes though, they just need a little catalyst. Sometimes that catalyst is something like having a pokemon of that type help them with the move. Like Celine being steel type and Bellow trying to learn metal claw. Sometimes the catalyst is the weather or the time of day." Cutter nodded, hanging on to ever one of Ray's words and continued watching the training.

After another hour Ray halted his pokemon. "I'm going to have to call it a day. You need to journey a bit farther before you're done for the day. And you should work with your pokemon yourself as well." Ray smiled, his eyes crinkling, and Cutter couldn't help but grin back at the old trainer. "It was wonderful to meet you." From his satchel, the man pulled out a small sack that he handed to Cutter.

"Thank you so much, sir. You have helped me out an incredible amount today. Thank you," Cutter said as he turned to put the sack into his backpack. When he turned around, Ray was gone. Cutter shook his head, not knowing what to think. "Did you two see where he went?" He asked his pokemon, but they shook their heads, just as confused as their trainer.

xx

They traveled for a few hours that night and when they stopped for the evening, Cutter decided to finally check the bag that Ray had given him. He pulled it out of his backpack and as soon as he opened it and saw the contents, he gasped. He emptied the bag onto the ground to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Lying on the ground from the bag were two medium sized bags of Chople berries and two small bags of Babiri berries. There were four max potions, two revives, a TM that contained Mega Punch, and an ultra ball.

"No way," Cutter breathed, marveling at the gifts that Ray had given him. How had this man who seemingly lived in the middle of the wilderness afford these? And why would he give them to Cutter, a trainer he had just met that very day? Cutter wasn't going to complain but this just confirmed his suspicion that this man was no ordinary trainer. Everything that was given to him in that bag was extremely expensive. When Cutter was a better trainer he knew, he would have to come back and find the man and battle him to show him his thanks.

xx

The next week went by uneventfully. Cutter battled ten trainers over the course of those seven days, and he won all of them, his pokemon shining spectacularly. All of the trainers he had battled had been traveling the same amount of time as him, but he still managed to sweep them.

Silver's Sandstorm and Rocky Sand was incredible. He could maintain it for basically the whole battle and control the size of it perfectly. Bellow never failed with a Metal Claw and in battle she never stopped moving, making her a near impossible target to hit. Cutter had also taught Bellow her own form of push and flip. Bellow's version was called grab and flip and it involved grabbing the opponent as they ran at her, but it was basically the same and it worked just as well, her speed working in her favor for building up the momentum needed.

xx

It was the morning of his eighth day and he was more than halfway to Violet City. Cutter had been working on Silver and Bellow's non-damaging moves for the last several days. Bellow had perfected Fake Tears and Baby Doll Eyes and they had moved on to a combo of the two. The Little Bear pokemon would use both Fake Tears and Baby Doll Eyes at the same time. The Fake Tears, worried for the small, crying pokemon, made the opponent let its guard down and Baby Doll Eyes made Teddiursa so cute that opposing pokemon became less likely to attack, and even if they did attack it would be weaker than before, afraid they would hurt the Tiny Bear. The two moves worked perfectly for the already cute Teddiursa. When she played soft with the Baby Doll Eyes and Fake Tears, other pokemon's guards fell down completely. While the opposing pokemon were under this cute spell, Teddiursa would run in and deliver decisive blows with Quick Swift or a Metal Claw.

Silver's main defense was Sandstorm but Cutter had been working on teaching him Screech. It was pretty basic. Silver would Screech as loudly as he could, and the soundwaves, so high frequency, would and startle the opponent so badly they weren't able to properly defend themselves, more focused on blocking out the awful screeching. It wasn't a damaging move like Uproar or Boomburst since the soundwaves weren't high or frequent enough, but it did well enough for what it was. They found Silver wasn't fast enough to capitalize on the momentary lack of defense if he was still too far away, so Cutter trained him on running while he used Screech. Eventually Cutter planned on him creating a huge Rock Throw while he ran using Screech, but for now he just needed to get Screech down.

Cutter was engrossed in his Pokedex as they walked, trying to figure out what moves and strategies to teach his pokemon next. He wanted them to both get at least one more move before Violet City just so their move pool was large enough to deal with whatever threats the Violet City Gym Leader threw at them, and that wasn't including Mega Punch. He intended it to teach to both of them.

As Cutter scrolled through the moves Teddiursa could learn naturally, one in particular stuck out to him: Feint Attack. It was a dark type move and would be perfect for when her conventional fighting type battle strategy wouldn't work against psychic types. Feint Attack allowed the pokemon using the attack to cloak themselves in a shadow of dark type energy and blur out of sight, opposite the direction that the pokemon originally seemed to be going. Then, while cloaked with the dark type energy, they would essentially tackle their opponent, but since there was a dark type energy infused with the attack, it was more damaging than a regular Tackle. The problem was that Cutter had no idea how he would teach it to Bellow. Like Ray had said, normal types had a natural ability to learn a wide variety of moves of other types, but a lot of times they needed a catalyst, and Cutter had no idea what that catalyst would be.

He knew no one with a dark type other than his father, and he wasn't going all the way back to Cherrygrove just for that. He would have to find another way.

For Silver, he was debating between two moves: Rock tomb or Rock Slide. Rock Tomb would just be Larvitar calling rocks up from the earth to encase the opposing pokemon in, essentially, a tomb of rock. Rock Slide would involve Larvitar calling up or creating rocks, throwing them into the sky, and then firing them in all at once from above, making it as similar to a natural rock slide as possible. Both moves their strong points, but both could be difficult to learn. Rock Slide would be incredibly nice, especially since Falkner, the gym leader of Violet City, used flying types, and having rocks come from above would make it much harder for the flying types to dodge. But Cutter wasn't sure if Silver had the strength yet to make that many rocks fly, let alone call them up and aim them as well. Rock Tomb would be harder to use on the flying types, but it was often used as the foundation for Stone Edge, and Stone Edge was an incredible move, the strongest rock move Silver could learn. Cutter debated in his mind, but eventually settled on Rock Tomb for the time being.

It was early afternoon when Cutter finally stopped them for lunch and training. They scarfed down their lunches of Chople berries and pokemon food so that they could get started, Silver and Bellow just as excited to train as Cutter.

Cutter began to explain to them what the next couple of hours would entail. "Silver, you're going to be learning Rock Tomb. Rock Tomb," he said, "is different from your other rock type moves because for Rock Tomb you have to call up rocks from the earth, you can't form them from your body, and you don't throw them. You call up the rocks around the opposing pokemon, and if it's successful, it traps them, encasing them in the rock. You want to go start working on that?" Silver nodded and ran off as to begin his training.

"Bellow I want you to work on Feint Attack." Cutter explained the basics of Feint Attack to the Little Bear and when he was sure she had a decent understanding, he sent her off to train as well.

For the next hour Cutter let them work on their moves on their own as he did a little training himself. He did sprints, push-ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and he even attempted to climb trees, which ended up being a total failure.

Cutter stood up straight, trying to catch his breath after a particularly long set of sprints and went to see how his pokemon were coming along. Silver was doing well, the rocks he was creating small, but definitely resembling what a Rock Tomb was supposed to look like. "Keep it up Silver. You're getting there," Cutter smiled.

When he went to check on Bellow, he found that she had made little headway, if any. The feinting part of the move was fine, she was fast enough to make it work. She just wasn't catching the hang of the dark type energy. Honestly, Cutter didn't know how to fix it. He remembered what Ray had said about normal types needing a catalyst but he didn't know what that catalyst might be. He decided to end training for the day and continue trekking on towards Violet City. As they walked, Feint Attack was all he could think about.

xx

The next couple of days passed and Cutter still hadn't thought of a solution. He was cuddled up next to Bellow, stroking her soft fur, close to falling asleep for the night. _I should get to Violet City tomorrow. I can wait until the day after to challenge Falkner. Give my pokemon time to rest. They definitely deserve it. I'll think more about it tomorrow._ He cracked one eye open, marveling at the darkness. He couldn't even see Bellow right in front of him. _These are my favorite nights. It's so dark without the moon._ And then it hit him. _Darkness! It's night time. Ray said that the time of day could be a catalyst. Maybe this is it. Maybe Bellow needs to try the move in the dark, when there is no light to disturb the dark energy. This is it for sure!_ "Bellow, are you up?"

 _"Ursu?"_ Bellow growled meekly.

"I know how to master Feint Attack." Cutter felt Bellow's ears perk up. Cutter explained his thought to Bellow. He knew that they could practice the move tonight, but it was too dark for him to be able to tell if it would work. Cutter didn't mind that though, if it meant that Bellow got Feint Attack down. They stayed up for another hour, Cutter, unable to see anything, hoping that progress was made. Finally, both of them worn out, they went to sleep.

The next morning when Cutter woke up, he wanted to try the move out immediately, and Bellow was ready. They got packed up quickly and the three of them ran along the trail, eager to find a trainer to test it out on.

They ran on for half a mile before Cutter decided to return his two pokemon so they would be rested for the battle. It took Cutter a while considering it was barely 7 am, but after another mile and a half, he happened upon a boy that appeared to be about the same age as him.

"Hey," wheezed Cutter, tired from the extremely long sprint.

The boy looked over at him. "Yeah?"

Cutter stood up, having finally caught his breath. "Want to battle?" Cutter asked, having finally caught his breath.

"Sure," the boy shrugged. "One on one?"

Cutter nodded and the two boys took their places on opposite sides of the field. They both tossed out their pokeballs, Cutter choosing Bellow and the other boy sending out a Sandshrew.

 _"Sheri,"_ the small, golden pokemon chittered. It stood on its back two legs and even from a distance Cutter could see that its claws were sharp and that its tail was long and thick. "We're battling, Cashew," the boy called out.

"Bellow, Quick Swift!" Cutter shouted, wanting to get the first move.

 _"Urus,"_ Bellow growled, falling into a Quick Attack, small golden stars forming at her muzzle.

"Defense Curl!" Cashew curled its body up into a tight little ball, protecting itself from the barrage of stars Bellow shot at it, but the force of the swift sent the Sandshrew rolling backwards. "Now Rollout!"

Cashew lashed out with its thick tail, slamming it into the earth. The force threw Cashew forward, sending itself, rolling at Bellow. The Little Bear pokemon was too fast for the Sandshrew however and easily stayed away from the rolling pokemon.

"Let it get close then use Feint Attack!" Cutter called. The Sandshrew changed direction and rolled at Bellow, faster than before. Cutter held his breath as Bellow waited and then, at the last second, cloaked herself in a dark energy, feinted left, then slammed into the Mouse pokemon, sending Cashew flying.

"Yes! Bellow perfect!" Cutter yelled, jumping for joy. The opposing trainer just stared at him like he was crazy, but Cutter didn't care. Bellow had pulled off Feint Attack well. Cutter was brought out of his joy by the opposing trainer ordering his Sandshrew to go in with a Tackle.

"Meet him in the middle, grab and flip, then Swift," Cutter called quietly, not wanting the opposing pokemon to hear him.

Bellow rushed forward and as the two pokemon met, she grabbed Cashew and flipped him over her head, slamming him into the ground behind her.

Using the force of the slam, Bellow jumped into the air and fired a full powered swift straight into the back of Cashew. The Mouse pokemon did not get back up.

Cutter collected his winnings from the trainer and thanked him for a good battle. As the other trainer walked away, Cutter turned to Bellow. "Awesome job, girl! You did excellent. And Feint Attack was perfect!"

Cutter released Silver as he dug pulled the honey jar out of his bag. He let Bellow soak her paws in it for a moment before putting it up and continuing on their way.

xx

Three days later and they had arrived in Violet City. Cutter marveled at the town as he walked through the streets, each apartment building nearly the exact same. As he wandered around the town, searching for the Pokemon Center, he saw the building that made him come to this town and start his journey in the first place: The Violet City Gym.

Cutter leaned down to Silver and Bellow and said, "That's the gym. That building is going to contain our biggest test yet. In just a couple of days we are going to battle the gym leader in there and come out one step closer to becoming the best of the best." Silver and Bellow cheered and Cutter smiled. He knew they were ready.

xx

 **Hey guys! So I'm currently going through and editing all of the chapters! Hopefully these edits made it better! Thanks for keeping up with the story and I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Like, review and subscribe! PM me if you have any questions or thoughts!**


	2. Zephyr

Cutter stepped into the Pokemon Center and was greeted by a smiling nurse, her hair a bright shade of pink. "Hello. Do you have a Pokedex I can scan or would you like to give me the information verbally?" The nurse, whose nametag read Joy, asked him.

Cutter pulled out his Pokedex and handed it to Nurse Joy. "Here you go."

"Thank you sir. Are there any serious injuries I should be informed of?" Joy asked as she typed on the computer and registered his Pokedex.

"No ma'am," Cutter said. "Just the usual tiredness and soreness from battle." He handed her the pokeballs of Silver and Bellow.

Joy placed the two balls onto a metallic tray that was made specifically for pokeballs. "It'll be just a few minutes. Feel free to use any of the facilities here. Your name will be called over the loudspeaker when your pokemon are fully healed." The nurse handed him his Pokedex and she walked through a swinging door behind the counter, the smile never leaving her cheerful face.

Cutter walked around the center as he waited. As he wandered, a large poster on the bulletin board next to the couches caught his attention. " _ **TAKE THE SPROUT TOWER CHALLENGE"**_ was all that the poster read. Under the text was an image of what Cutter assumed to be Sprout Tower. Cutter considered it. _It would be a good way to do some last-minute training before the gym if it's a battle challenge. I'll ask Nurse Joy about it and see what she can tell me._ Cutter scanned the rest of the posters for a couple minutes but nothing stuck out to him as much. He was reading one about a man who made custom pokeballs in Azalea Town when he heard his name being called over the loudspeaker.

"Here are your pokemon, Mr. Robinson. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Cutter released the two pokemon and put the balls back into his vest pockets.

"Yes actually. Two things. First, could I get a room for two nights?"

"Absolutely. I have all of your information from just a minute ago. Your room number will be 317. Third floor." The nurse handed him a card key. "And your other question?"

"What is the Sprout Tower Challenge?"

"Do you know what the Sprout Tower is?" Cutter nodded his head. He had learned all about it in his ancient architecture class in high school. The Sprout Tower was a very old tower located there in Violet City. The tower, being a pagoda, swayed and rocked, which helped to protect it against earthquakes that used to plague the region. Some lore even said that it was built using the assistance of a 100-foot-tall Bellsprout, hence the name of the tower. "Well, the tower is inhabited by monks who train there. Recently though, visits to the tower slowed. The monks, working with Falkner the gym leader here, figured they could get attendance to the tower back up through a battling challenge. You battle one monk per floor, five floors total, each monk getting more challenging. You cannot leave during the challenge and you are only allowed two pokemon per floor. The top floor is the final battle. If you succeed in defeating all of the monks, you receive a prize."

"Oh, thank you!" Cutter turned and raced out of the doors of the Pokemon Center, eager to test his pokemon's abilities before taking on his biggest challenge yet.

As Cutter rounded the corner of the Pokemon Center he saw the tower clearly above the other small, traditional buildings of the town and wondered how he had missed it when he first got into the town. Violet City was slowly but surely becoming a more urban city. Its population rivaled that of Ecruteak and in terms of land, it was the fourth largest in the Johto region, behind Goldenrod, Olivine and Blackthorn. Despite how urban the city was becoming, the buildings were still relatively small in comparison to other major cities of the region. Currently the tallest building was Sprout Tower, but Cutter saw the beginnings of the first skyscraper the city would have as he walked. As a whole, the Johto region was considerably more rural than its Kanto counterpart. In Kanto the buildings were modern and the technology was more advanced. Cutter had begged for a cell phone for a long time but the service in the Johto region was limited and almost no one had cell phones anyways. It had improved drastically since Cutter had been young, but for the most part people just used the video call phones in Pokemon Centers. Along with that, Johto had stuck to tradition much longer than the Kanto region had. That was part of the reason for the Great War so long ago. The descendants of the original Johtoans were upset that their relatives in Kanto were leaving tradition behind, so they decided to take action. That, among other things, led up to the start of the Great War.

Cutter marveled the Sprout Tower as he walked across the bridge that led up to Sprout Tower Sprout Tower was on the north end of town, separated from the rest of the city by a small river. As Cutter walked through the open doors, he was greeted by a kind old man that was dressed in a plain brown robe and sandals. "Hello there," the man said in a much smaller voice than Cutter expected. "How may I be of assistance?"

"I'd like to take the Sprout Tower Challenge, please," Cutter told the man.

"Ahh, of course. Are you familiar with the rules?"

"Yes."

"Then if you will step right this way, then we will begin." Cutter was shown to his spot and the man took his place right across from him. "This is a two on two battle. The challenger may make one substitution when and if the opposing monk's pokemon has fallen. Ready. Begin." With that, the man tossed out a Bellsprout, a weedy looking pokemon with a bulbous yellow head, each of its arms just being leaves. Cutter tossed out Bellow.

"Quick attack!" Cutter yelled.

"Don't let him in close, use vine whip." Bellow fell into a quick attack, and the opposing Bellsprout's leaf like arms whipped out and slapped at the Teddiursa. Bellow was faster than the Bellsprout and she avoided the vine whip, slamming into the Bellsprout, knocking it back. "Snare it, Bellsprout!" Bellsprout extended its vines more, snaking them towards Bellow.

"Quickswift to keep those vines back and get in close, then use scratch." Bellow sprinted forward and fired off swifts, effectively forcing the Bellsprout to retract its vines. The Little Bear pokemon easily leapt over a few more vines and smashed into the Bellsprout, slashing at the Flower pokemon with scratch. Five seconds later and Bellsprout disappeared into a flash of red light, its trainer realizing there was nothing his Bellsprout could do.

"Not bad. But how will you fare against my Hoothoot?" In a flash of bright white light, a short fat bird appeared.

"Bellow, return." Cutter tossed out Silver, who glared at the Hoothoot. "Rock throw." Silver formed a rock throw as the Hoothoot struggled to stay airborne.

"Hoothoot, use tackle." The Hoothoot rushed in as quickly as its stubby wings would allow it. As soon as Hoothoot got close enough, Larvitar smashed the rock throw into Hoothoot. Hoothoot fell backwards and just like that, the battle was over. The man returned his Hoothoot and walked over to Cutter, a smile on his old face. "That was a good battle young man. You will go far. Good luck on the rest of your challenge." The man showed Cutter to the ladder where he climbed up to face his next challenge.

The next three floors went the same way. He defeated monks two, three, and four just as esily as he defeated the first man. As he made his way up the ladder to the fifth floor, Cutter began to wonder if this "challenge" was even worth it. _I've breezed straight through this. They haven't gotten a single hit off on me. Pretty good practice for the gym. It'll help get Silver and Bellow's confidence up a good bit._

"Hello." Cutter's head jerked up towards the voice. He had unconsciously gotten off the ladder and began walking forward, not having realized it completely lost in thought. This monk was much younger than the rest of them had been. He couldn't have been much older than twenty-five, although the bald head threw off Cutter's age guessing skills. "Cutter, yes? I am Monk Li, the head monk here. You certainly have breezed straight through this challenge. How long have you been a trainer?"

Cutter continued walking towards the man. "Right at a month now, sir."

The man chuckled. "No need to call me sir. However, I am a much more difficult opponent than my fellow monks, so don't underestimate me due to my age."

"I would never," Cutter replied with a smile. _This battle will be much better than the rest of them. Time to really test out Silver and Bellow._

"The rules are the same as all of the other floors. I will release first," Li called, throwing out a pokeball that released yet another Bellsprout onto the wooden battle field.

"You're up!" Silver appeared on the field looking a little tired due to all of the previous battles but he could clearly still battle just as hard as he needed to.

"A type disadvantage. Interesting." Li frowned and bit his lip, clearly trying to figure out just what exactly Cutter was thinking. Cutter smiled. Even this momentary lapse in concentration would help him.

"Silver, stay back and use rock throw. Stay on guard. We're high up so you won't be able to use the ground to feel it." Larvitar readied two decent sized boulders and took a defensive stance, glaring warily at the Bellsprout.

"Sprouts, use razor leaf. He's strong, so watch out." Sprouts slung its rootlike arms, launching a flurry of razor leaves at Silver, who deflected them with one of the rocks. Silver launched the other rock, countering as quickly as possible.

"Catch one and throw," Li demanded solemnly. Sprouts caught the rock and used its momentum to spin around and launch it back at Silver.

"Dodge and rocky sand. Cover the whole field. Stay moving." Silver began to run, sand and small rocks being expelled from the Larvitar's body. Soon the whole field was covered in a sandstorm, and Cutter could see the psychic boundary of the field flicker slightly, holding in the sandstorm.

"Use your vines and find him!"

"Silver, find the Bellsprout and use screech then bite." Cutter knew that even though Silver had a natural advantage in the sandstorm, it was only a matter of time until the Bellsprout's vines would find him. From there, Bellsprout's type advantage would make all the difference in the battle.

An ear-piercing screech let out from inside the sandstorm let Cutter know that Silver had found Sprouts. Now he could only wait. Even though they were in Silver's domain, the Bellsprout had type advantage. If the Bellsprout could get off enough hits, then the sandstorm wouldn't matter. Cutter forced himself to stop thinking like that. He would find out soon enough.

The sandstorm died down and he saw Silver limping back towards him, the Bellsprout lying fainted on the ground. Cutter smiled triumphantly before seeing that the Larvitar had taken some hits as well. His rocky skin was marred with cuts and gouges from the various vine whips. Cutter didn't doubt that if the screech hadn't thrown Bellsprout off guard, the matchup might not have gone the same way. But alas, Silver had won.

"Good job Silver!" When Silver reached his trainer, Cutter leaned down and rubbed behind his horn, eliciting a pleased hum from the Larvitar, before returning Silver in a flash of red light. "Bellow, it's your turn!" Cutter called, releasing Bellow onto the now sandy battlefield.

"Even with a type disadvantage you succeeded. Impressive. But don't expect my next pokemon to be so easy." Li pulled a pokeball from his belt and tossed it on the field, releasing a fat, round bird on the field. Hoothoot. Bellow stared down its opponent. She had faced Hoothoots previously in this very tower, but she had breezed through them all. No doubt she was figuring that this one would be no different.

"Bellow, this Hoothoot won't be as easy as the previous ones. Stay alert. Keep moving." At her trainer's commands, Bellow fell into a run, circling the Owl pokemon, firing swifts off at random to see how fast her opponent was. The Hoothoot, despite its heavy appearance and bulky stature, was quite quick with its wings and easily evaded the lazy swifts the Teddiursa fired.

"In the air, O. Then get in close with tackle." O fluttered into the air before speeding down at Bellow, allowing its momentum to carry it. Cutter didn't bother calling out a command. He knew that the Teddiursa would know what to do. And she did. She sped her quick attack up, easily dodging the Hoothoot's tackle. This game of Meowth and Pikachu went on for longer than Cutter would have liked. He didn't want Bellow to tire herself out too early into the battle.

The Hoothoot would rush at Bellow, and Bellow would easily dodge with a quick attack. "Alright O, this is getting old. Tackle, then confusion."

 _Uh oh. This Hoothoot knows confusion?_

Cutter knew that the Noctowl line had the ability to learn psychic type attacks, but he didn't think he would see that ability put into action this early on into his journey. O rushed at Bellow again, this time powering up a confusion in between the black feathers on its head. When it got close, it launched the confusion, pink and purple waves of psy energy flowing from between the pronged feathers on the top of its head. Bellow sped into a quick attack, fleeing from the confusion. O anticipated that and as soon as Bellow ran, the Hoothoot spun around, sending the confusion straight into the back of Bellow. "Tackle!" Li shouted triumphantly, no doubt thinking the Teddiursa would be put out of commission following the back to back attacks.

Cutter waited as the Owl pokemon flew closer. Bellow jumped up and glared at the Hoothoot, obviously angry that she had somehow been hit. Once O got close enough, Cutter called out, "grab and flip, then swift!" Bellow leapt up and grabbed the black feathers on the bird's head and, using O's own momentum, slammed the bird into the ground. Bellow used the force of the slam to launch herself into the air, firing a flurry of swifts down onto her opponent.

"O, get up!" Li yelled out, his voice thick with desperation. Struggling, O stood, the pain obvious on its face. "Confusion."

As O charged up the confusion, Cutter knew how to counter it. "Feint attack!" Cutter smiled as Li's face fell. Bellow cloaked itself in a dark energy as it ran at the Hoothoot, the confusion passing straight through the Little Bear. She crashed into O and throwing it backwards. The Hoothoot did not get back up.

"Good job, Bellow!" Cutter yelled as he ran up to his pokemon. Bellow met him halfway, leaping into his arms. He rubbed the Little Bear pokemon in the middle of her crescent moon, eliciting a contented growl from the Teddiursa.

"Good match," Li said, walking up to Cutter. "Your pokemon are clearly well trained, despite you only being a trainer for a short time."

Cutter grinned. "Thank you. That was definitely one of the best battles I've had so far."

"I have your reward for completing the Sprout Tower Challenge. This is the TM for Flash, and this is 100 pokedollars." Li handed Cutter his winnings and Cutter smiled even bigger. He could definitely put those things to good use.

"Thank you so much. It was an honor battling you. Please come back when you have grown and show me how much stronger you have become."

"I'd be happy to," Cutter smiled as he walked away. Before the Sprout Tower Challenge, Cutter hadn't been so sure about facing the gym leader of Violet City. But now, after a victorious five battle run, Cutter could not have felt more confident in his team's abilities.

As he stepped out into the warm evening air, Cutter let all thoughts of training and battling leave his mind. He had had a good day of training and knew he didn't have to worry about the gym battle until the next day. However, he had made a promise to his parents. He would do something not training related in each town he came to, no matter what. Some trainers went off on their journey and then never did anything but train. Cutter's father had seen first hand how that affected trainers and didn't want his son to become like that. He pondered his options of things to do in Violet City. He didn't know much about Violet City, but he did know there was a pokemon park on the west end of town. He had seen a flyer about it while waiting for his pokemon to be healed earlier that day. _That would be a good idea. It would be fun and give Silver and Bellow a nice chance to relax after the gym battle._ As he decided on the pokemon park for their afternoon off in Violet City, Cutter walked through the doors of the Pokemon Center and up to the nurse at the counter.

"Hello!" Cutter exchanged words with the pretty young nurse and gave her the pokeballs. Cutter looked around for the cafeteria so he and his pokemon could go eat before they went to bed, but his search was interrupted by a crowd of people gathered around a large television. He walked up to it to see what was going on.

"Hey, what's happening?" Cutter asked a tall blonde boy standing next to him, as he craned to see over the crowd of people.

"It's the first televised battle of the Silver Conference. Are you even a trainer?" the blonde boy asked with disdain, turning away from Cutter. Cutter scowled at the boy before turning back to the television.

The preliminary round of the conference was a group stage. All trainers would be sorted into groups of four, and they would each face each other in a one-on-one battle. A win got you three points, a tie one point, and a loss was no points. The trainer that ended the group stage with the most points would then go on to the televised battles. This cut down the competition from over 500 to just 128 battlers. Cutter found an opening in the crowd and scooted in to the front, where he saw a large Venusaur scattering yellow and purple spores onto the battle field, where a Weavile was running around, attempting to find its way through the now toxic air.

Cutter marveled at the speed of the Weavile, even though it wasn't moving anywhere near its full speed. The Weavile apparently decided that it wasn't going to be able to get through the spores, so it fired an ice beam at the opposing Venusaur, who blocked it with an energy ball, resulting in a beautiful explosion. Just at that time, Cutter heard his name being called and he made his way back through the crowd. As he walked away, he smiled to himself. _In two years, that will be me on that screen, taking the Silver Conference by storm._

Cutter picked up the pokeballs and walked into the cafeteria, releasing his pokemon on the way. "Silver. Bellow. This is our first time to stay in a Pokemon Center. They have a cafeteria with all you can eat food, but please be polite." The two small pokemon nodded in understanding. Cutter smiled in relief at how well behaved his pokemon were. He had heard horror stories of trainers getting kicked out of pokemon centers solely due to the fact that their pokemon had wreaked havoc in the cafeterias. These two were well behaved, but Cutter had no doubt that pokemon he would catch in the future would not be as well behaved. Not every pokemon had the manners or temperament that Silver and Bellow had. _I really did get lucky as a beginning trainer, getting two pokemon that listen so well. I can only imagine what would happen if I had some trickster ghost type that didn't listen._ Cutter shuddered at the thought. He couldn't stand ghost types. They were just too creepy for his taste.

The two pokemon and their trainer ate their food. Silver and Bellow ate as politely as two young pokemon could, but nevertheless a mess was made. Honey was smeared across the table and the Teddiursa was dabbling in it, a smile on her brown face. Meanwhile, the Larvitar was just eating an oran berry, looking at Bellow as if thinking _how can a pokemon be so immature._ Cutter just looked at the Larvitar and laughed. "Lighten up, Silver. Have a little fun." He pushed the Larvitar playfully on the horn, causing Silver to fire back with a playful growl. "That's it," Cutter said grinning. He was content. It was him and his team having fun and enjoying a good meal, the night before the first true test that he and his team would have.

Cutter and his two pokemon stepped into the warm night air after finishing their meal and cleaning the table before Nurse Joy could see their mess. _It's getting warmer. Summer can't be too far off._ They made their way to a small battle plot that was off to the side of the pokemon center.

"Guys, tomorrow we face our first true challenge out here. It's our first gym battle. You know we all want to become the best and the strongest. That starts tomorrow. I believe in you. Just stay strong and don't give up." Larvitar rumbled and Teddiursa let out a small growl. The sounds were kind but determined. They knew what they had to do. "Let's get to sleep. We're going to need our energy for sure."

The next morning Cutter and his team awoke, ate breakfast and headed out of the pokemon center quickly, not wanting to waste a moment. They made their way to a clearing just outside of the city limits where Cutter and his team would warm up. They jogged for a few minutes before he had Silver and Bellow do some light sparring. Twenty minutes later, Cutter decided they were ready. He returned his pokemon and made his way to the gym, his stomach fluttering with Butterfree.

He arrived at the door and swallowed down the nervous fear that had begun to build up inside of him. Once he calmed himself, he walked in where a girl no older than him was sitting behind a counter. "How may I help you?" She asked cheerfully, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"I'm here to challenge Falkner," Cutter said, the Butterfree in his stomach intensifying at how soon the gym battle would begin.

"Do you have a Pokedex?" She laughed, sensing his nervousness.

"Yeah. Here." He handed it to her, his hand trembling.

"This is your first gym battle I see. That would explain the nerves. Don't worry. Falkner won't use his full team. And he's an excellent trainer to battle for your first badge. He won't go easy on you but he's very good with new trainers." She smiled, and Cutter's nerves seemed to calm a little. "Well Mr. Robinson, you're all set. Falkner will be awaiting you behind these doors. Good luck."

With a muttered "thank you," Cutter made his way through the double doors to the left of the desk. As he walked into the battle room, he was blinded by the light. The roof was open, Cutter noticed, probably for Falkner's bird pokemon to fly high. Falkner, the bird master of Violet City, loved to capitalize on the height and evasive abilities that bird pokemon offered.

"Hello," came a voice from across the battle field, which was just a bare dirt field. "I'm Falkner, the Violet City gym leader." Cutter shielded his eyes and looked at the leader walking towards him. Falkner appeared to be in his mid forties. His hair was so black it was almost blue and he had a silver feather tucked behind his ear. Cutter remembered the story his father told him of the time he challenged Falkner. At that time, Falkner was only a couple years older than his father, who was ten at the time. He had been a gym leader for a long time.

"I'm Cutter. I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle," Cutter called out, stopping on the outskirts of the field.

"No need to be so nervous. I don't bite. My bird pokemon might though," Falkner said with a wink as he stepped up to Cutter, hand outstretched. He accepted the handshake with a chuckle.

"Sorry. I didn't realize the nerves would be this bad."

"It's understandable. A word of advice, if I may?" Cutter nodded in response. "You owe it to your pokemon to not be nervous. The pokemon are only as good as the trainer, and if you can't effectively guide them during battle, you have no chance. And that's just not fair to your hardworking friends that are battling for you."

Cutter nodded. "Thank you." Surprisingly, the experienced leader's words calmed Cutter's nerves.

"Well are you ready?"

"Yes I am," Cutter smiled, his confidence returning.

Falkner made his way back across the field, stopping right outside of the edge of the dirt plot. "This will be a two-on-two battle. The challenger may make one substitution at the end of the round, should one of my pokemon fall. The battle is over whenever one of us has no pokemon left or should the challenger forfeit. Understood?"

"Yes!" Cutter called back.

"Perfect. My son Flik will be refereeing the battle. A boy a few years younger than Cutter and with hair as dark as Falkner's stepped towards the center of the field, one arm straight up in the air.

"The gym leader shall release the first pokemon. Begin," the boy yelled, dropping his hand. On the word begin Falkner released his first pokemon. It was a small, unassuming bird pokemon. Its back and half of its wings were a dark brown while its underbelly and tip of the wings a creamy pale color. Pidgey. Cutter released Silver who appeared on the field in a flash of white light.

"Get high, Boro," the Leader called out, not showing a trace of fear at the type disadvantage he faced. Cutter knew that gym leaders typically had a counter for type disadvantages, but he didn't know if they would come into effect in the very first gym. Falkner probably wasn't expecting him to have such a rare rock type. Then again, Falkner had been a gym leader for roughly thirty years. He had probably seen pretty much everything.

As the Pidgey fluttered high into the air, Silver knew what to do. They had gone over it a few times that morning. He prepared a rocky sand and soon the attack was swirling around the field, just barely high enough to fully hide Silver, the psychic barriers flickering slightly as they easily held the attack within the plot.

"Gust!"

"Hold it, Silver," Cutter yelled out as Boro whipped up strong winds to drive the sandstorm away. The gust and sandstorm fought for dominance, but it was Silver's attack that prevailed. The Pidgey gave in and began to soar around the field, attempting to find an opening in which to attack the Larvitar.

"Rock throw!" Two decent sized rocks flew out of the sandstorm, but Boro dodged them with ease.

"You're going to have to do better than that. Boro's too fast. Now it's our turn. Use quick wing." The Pidgey blurred into a quick attack and dove into the sandstorm, its wing glowing a bright white, visible even in the sandstorm.

 _Quick attack and wing attack._

"Silver, rock tomb, then rock throw. NOW!" Screamed Cutter. Three large rocks jutted up from the earth right in front of Boro, forcing the Tiny Bird to slow veer upwards. Silver took advantage of the bird's speed decrease and hit Boro with a huge rock throw. Boro was thrown backwards and fell to the ground, fainted, unable to take the rock type attack at such close range. As the sands died down and the Pidgey was returned, Cutter saw that Silver was panting, tired as well. Holding up such an intense sandstorm for so long had definitely taken its toll on him.

"I'm going to let Bellow have a turn." The Larvitar nodded at his trainer as he disappeared in a flash of red light. As Cutter released Bellow, a Pidgeotto, the evolved form of Pidgey, appeared in the air in front of Falkner. This bird was basically the same as Pidgey, just bigger. A lot bigger, Cutter noticed. It was still young and not anywhere near ready for evolution to its final stage of Pidgeot, but it would definitely be a bigger challenge than the leader's first pokemon. And he no longer had a type advantage. Cutter mentally cursed himself for not realizing that Falkner would save his stronger pokemon for the last battle. Sighing, he refocused on the field and the upcoming matchup.

"Bellow, watch out. Silver already took out the first pokemon, but now it's your turn to take care of this one." Bellow nodded and readied herself for battle, the crescent moon on her head glowing slightly. _Interesting. I'll have to look into that later. But for now, gym battle._ "Quickswift." Bellow fired off miniature swifts as she fell into a quick attack, but the Pidgeotto easily dodged them.

"A battle of speed then. I see how it's going to be." The leader smirked and his Pidgeotto sped up, becoming little more than a blur in the air.

"Watch out, Bellow. It's fast."

"Blu, use quickwing." Cutter grimaced. Another quick attack wing attack combo. Bellow was naturally fast, but they hadn't worked on increasing her speed much. Mostly they had been depending on her natural speed over the untrained pokemon they were battling in the wild, and training her strength. Cutter knew Bellow was going to be slower so it was up to sheer power here, and he had just the solution.

"Grab and flip, with feint attack!" The Teddiursa slid to a stop, turning to face the blur of a pokemon racing towards her. Just as the bird reached Teddiursa, she cloaked herself in a dark energy and feinted left, much to the bird's surprise. Bellow grabbed the bird's wing and slung her back the opposite direction, using the momentum and size of the bird to her advantage. Even though Cutter was engrossed in the battle, he glanced at Falkner, who wore a look of shock on his face that he quickly covered up with a slight grin. He looked back to the battle to see a flurry of swifts flying at the off-guard bird who was now hurtling out of control in the opposite direction.

"Blu, veer up!" At her trainer's commands, the Pidgeotto pulled upwards, narrowly missing the cluster of rocks that Silver had pulled up with rock tomb in the previous matchup. "Gust!" Blu steadied itself in the air and whipped up a powerful wind, launching the gale at Bellow, who flew backwards from the force of the winds. "Now go in with a close with wing attack."

"Use baby tears!" Baby tears was the name Cutter had given the combination of baby doll eyes and fake tears which, if it worked, effectively caused the opposing pokemon to be caught completely off guard, lowering both its defense and likelihood to attack. Cutter knew it was risky because the attack depended on Blu looking at Bellow, but he knew she could pull it off. Bellow began to wail, and the Pidgeotto looked up at the Bellow. Perplexed, the bird veered off course and landed on the ground, cocking its head quizzically at the Teddiursa despite the pleas from its trainer.

Falkner threw his hands up in the air, pleading with his pokemon. "No, it's tricking you with a move! Blu, snap out of it!"

"Now quick attack and scratch!" Bellow blurred into a quick attack and her claws started to glow.

"Get out of there Blu!" Finally the Pidgeotto listened and snapped out of Bellow's cute spell, but by then it was too late. The Little Bear was on top of the Pidgeotto scratching and clawing at the bird as hard and fast as she could. Blu wasn't going down without a fight. Amidst squawks and growls, the battle raged on between the two. Pidgeotto was bigger, but Bellow had willpower and would not let her trainer down. Moments later, the dust from the brawl cleared and both pokemon were lying on the ground, fainted.

Cutter immediately ran down to his pokemon, scooping Bellow up into his arms. "You okay girl?" The Little Bear growled weakly and licked his forearm, bringing a smile to her trainer's face. His smile grew wider as he realized what that meant. "We did it. We beat the first gym. You did incredible. I couldn't have done it without you girl." Bellow licked his arm again before falling back unconscious. He returned her into her pokeball and stood up to greet the bird type Gym Leader.

"Well Cutter, I can honestly say that was an incredible battle. Even though you've only been a trainer for a short time, you show very clear potential. Here's your badge." Falkner pulled out a silver badge that slightly resembled a folded wing. "This is one-eighth of the proof you need to enter the Silver Conference in two years. Based on what I've seen, you should have no trouble getting the next seven, should you continue to work as hard as you have so far."

"Thank you Falkner. It was an honor battling you," Cutter said, his smile large as he put the Zephyr Badge into his badge case.

"And you as well. Come back once you have all eight badges and you can battle my full team."

"I would love to," Cutter replied as he walked out of the doors of the battle field, waving goodbye to the flying type Leader.

"That was an excellent battle! See you around!" The chipper blonde waved goodbye to him as he walked into the city street, the air warm and the midday sun high in the sky. Cutter allowed the warmth to wash over him as he walked back to the Pokemon Center. He would get his pokemon healed and take them to the park where they would get a well deserved break.

Just thirty minutes later and Cutter was strolling through the park, Silver at his feet and Bellow sitting on top of his head. The sun was high in the sky and the grass was green and soft beneath their feet. They sat down and Bellow leaped off of Cutter's head onto the plush grass. "You guys ready to eat? You all deserve an extra special lunch today." His pokemon smiled in excitement for the food. Cutter pulled out his pack of Chople and Babiri berries and handed a Chople berry to Bellow, along with the tub of honey for the Little Bear to soak her paws in. Then for Silver he handed him a rock from his mother's garden, Silver's favorite, and began to mix a Chople berry with a Babiri berry using a berry grinder he had bought at the PokeMart in Violet City.

As soon as everyone had eaten their fill, they all laid back contentedly, soaking in the sun's warm rays. For the next couple of hours they just played and relaxed. Cutter smiled to himself as he realized all the running his pokemon were doing as they played tag was a good form of cardio. He would have to incorporate games like that into their training more often.

"What do you two say we head out? I have somewhere I'd like to go check out before it gets dark." His pokemon nodded in agreement and they headed out.

An hour later Cutter was walking through a large gate into the Ruins of Alph. The trek had been an easy one; people often walked from Violet City to the tourist attraction of the Ruins of Alph so there were no trainers or wild pokemon to catch. His pokemon, who were chattering between each other, stopped as soon as they walked through the gate. It seemed they recognized the significance of this place. Cutter looked around and saw many small clay buildings scattered in a seemingly random formation across the grounds. He walked forward and headed into the open doorway of the building closest to him. As soon as he walked in he noticed the beginnings of a headache. _Oh no. Not the headaches. I haven't gotten one in so long. I thought I had grown out of them. And I forgot my medicine at home. Dammit. Mom is going to kill me._ The gravelly voice of an older gentleman brought Cutter back to reality. "The Ruins of Alph are a group of buildings from ancient times that depicted the earliest form of writing known to man. No one really knows who built them but there was a clan of people, known as the Unknown, that protected the land. Along with protecting the land, the Unknown also protected a group of psychic type pokemon that reside here. The pokemon are also called Unown and they bear an incredible similarity to our modern day alphabet. There are twenty-eight different known variations of Unown, and while they used to prolific here, no Unown have been seen in over 200 years. Not since the last time Celebi appeared to save the Johto region. But, it is rumored that the Savior of Johto will bring them back out of hibernation when they are needed most." There was a moment of silence as Cutter thought about everything he had just heard. He had learned about the Ruins of Alph briefly in school, but most of what was commonly known about the Ruins was all lore and folktale, so teachers tended to skip over it.

"Any questions?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm just trying to think." Cutter thought for a moment longer before a question came to him. "You said the Unown, pokemon not the people, were in the shapes of our modern day alphabet? Did the Unown come first or the alphabet?"

"It's sort of like the Torchic and the egg kind of question. Everyone has their opinions but no one really knows for sure." The man leaned in close and began to whisper, "I'm not supposed to do this but I'll tell you what I think. I think the Unown inspired our alphabet. They are a pokemon that is ancient and powerful. The clan that guarded them and worked with them probably used them as a form of communication. Don't tell my boss I told you that though," he finished with a wink. "I'm Samuel by the way."

"And I'm Cutter."

"Anything else I can do for you Cutter?"

"Yeah, what did you mean by The Savior of Johto?"

"Ahh yes. I figured you would ask that. You seem like the type of young man who wants to be a savior."

"Wha-," began Cutter indignantly before the man cut him off.

"I'm kidding. Several years ago, about twenty I believe, some tablets were found that depicted a story of someone saving the Johto region from destruction. The tablets were in excellent condition considering their age, but we only have limited knowledge on the hieroglyphs. It appears that the Legends Ho-oh, Lugia, Celebi, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, and the Unown were all depicted there, along with a young trainer. That's all we know though. We aren't really sure if it was Unown being depicted or if it was just letters, but we, or rather I, believe that it is Unown. Many historians think it's just writing. But if it's just writing, then the letters don't make sense or form any words that we know anything about." The longer the man talked about these things, the worse Cutter's headache got. "You okay, young man? You're looking a little pale. Do you want some-," then Cutter's vision went black.

 _A swirling mass of black shapes. Humming came from all sides. A vortex around him. Around the Savior. Around the one Chosen to Save. The vortex swirled high, forming a tight hold around him, the wind created from the vortex threatened to rip his clothes from his body. The black mass spread out, forming a sphere around him, never stopping the continuous spinning. Then, directly above him, he was able to make out an incredibly bright light. It shone brighter and brighter until he was forced to close his eyes. But still the light grew brighter until he could see it shining brightly through his eyelids. Then black._

Cutter moaned and opened his eyes to a group of people all dressed the same, probably Ruins of Alph volunteers, and Silver and Bellow crowded around him. He was on the floor in the same building he had blacked out in. Seeing his eyes open, the all quieted and his pokemon moved in close to him. The same man who Cutter had been speaking to right before he passed out leaned down next to him. "Young man, are you okay? What happened?"

Cutter wasn't even really sure how to explain it. He didn't really know what he had seen, but even then the man would probably just think him crazy. Besides, it was just a swirling black mass and bright light. No distinguishable characteristics about anything he had seen. It meant nothing. Cutter sat up. "I used to get these bad headaches when I was younger. They would cause me to black out for a couple of seconds, but they never lasted very long. I'm fine."

"You were out for almost ten minutes," the man, Samuel, told him. "It wasn't just a few seconds."

He had not realized that it had been that long at all. When he was having the vision it had only seemed like a few seconds. "Oh. I just," he was at a loss for words. He struggled to find something to say before deciding "it's probably just all the stress from this first month of training. Being away from home, caring for two young pokemon on my own, that's what it is."

"I suppose." Even as he said it, Cutter saw the looks that the other employees gave to each other and he knew that they didn't believe him, but they didn't press any further. "If you want to follow Mary here," Samuel said, gesturing to a small older lady as he helped Cutter to his feet, "she can take you to our private office and get you some tea."

"Oh no, that's really not necessary, I'm fine," Cutter shook his head, declining.

"Nonsense," Mary said, stepping forward. "You fainted here in the Ruins that we take so much pride in caring for. We must also care for our guests as well." And with that she stepped past Cutter, walking with elegance and grace surprising for someone as old as her. Cutter had no choice but to follow.

Cutter walked into a small air conditioned building behind the main visitor's center. It was just a single room and the only word Cutter could think of to describe it was cluttered. Papers were everywhere and there was not a single inch of bare table space. Mary pushed a pile of papers from off one of the tables, just to reveal that the table was, in fact, a stove. She began to move about the area surrounding the stove, preparing the tea. She turned back to Cutter after having set the tea kettle on to boil and just stared at him for a moment. "I'm not stupid, you know." Cutter's face scrunched up in confusion. "You just blacked out, albeit for only a few minutes. In the middle of the Ruins of Alph. While Samuel, the old goon, was telling you about the Legends. It's no coincidence boy. What did you see while you were passed out?" Cutter looked downwards, fidgeting awkwardly with a loose string on his shirt. "That's what I thought. I'm not going to press, boy, but just know that my name is Mary No and I work at the Ruins of Alph. I'll be here until my last breath. Whenever you need to find me again, this is exactly where I'll be. Now," she poured the tea into a Styrofoam to-go cup and handed it to him, "here is your tea. And here is a book. _Legends of Johto._ Samuel said you showed a lot of interest in the lore of the Ruins and of Johto, so I think it would benefit you to read this. It will provide you with valuable knowledge that your schooling never did." She ushered him out of the small building. "Mary No, Ruins of Alph." And with those parting words, she closed the door. Cutter just stood there bewildered, a cup of tea in one hand, a book titled _The Legends of Johto_ in the other, and his two pokemon standing at his feet.

"What just happened?" Cutter asked his pokemon, who just looked back up at him, apparently just as confused as he was. He stuffed the book into his backpack and took off out of the Ruins, employees staring at him as he walked by.

Late that night Cutter was sitting in his bed at the Pokemon Center, Silver sitting at the foot of the bed, his eyes closed, with his small pink pokemon toy, and Bellow curled up at Cutter's feet. Cutter himself was leaned back against the wall in the bed, _The Legends of Johto_ lying closed in his lap. He wanted to read it, but Cutter had never been much of a reader, and this book was thick. Much thicker than anything Cutter had ever read. All Cutter had ever done was adventure and play with his parent's pokemon. Schooling was second for him while pokemon was first. The material in the book would be interesting though. Much more interesting than anything he had learned about in school. Cutter hated school. There were so many cool things about pokemon and folklore in the Johto region that could be taught, but instead they focused on math and the history of random towns. Even when they learned about gym towns the teachers only mentioned the gyms as a means of protection and revenue. They never talked about their pokemon or battle style or anything. In other words, Cutter hated it. But _The Legends of Johto_ seemed like a book Cutter could get into. It was obviously very old. The leather cover was faded and the edges of the pages were yellow. _Well, I don't know when I'll have time on the road to read again, so I might as well go for it now._ He opened the book and began to read.

 _The Legends of Johto_

 _Chapter One_

 _The Beginning_

 _The Johto region was founded by a group of settlers from the eastern region of Kanto in the early 1000's. While these were not the first people in the region, they were the first to try to begin making developments. These developments, however, were delayed heavily by the pokemon in the region. Johto, unlike Kanto, was untamed at this point. The settlers that left the Kanto region were poor and in search of a new beginning. They did not have the resources needed to develop a region quickly. Not only that, they also did not have the pokemon needed to protect themselves or help with the development of the region. In this time pokemon like Tyranitar ran rampant, ruining the settlers attempts to move forward with developments. Oftentimes there were injuries and even deaths due to rampages._

 _After several years of failed attempts at developing the region, the settlers were ready to give up. They had few, weak, pokemon between them and nothing to show for the last several years. Their numbers had dwindled due to disease and pokemon attacks. But as soon as they were ready to head back to Kanto, defeated, a group of people called the Alph came to them. They had pokemon themselves and offered to help the foreigners._

 _The Kanto natives agreed and set off with the Alph to their home, the present-day Ruins of Alph. There, the two groups of people lived in harmony. The Alph helped the foreigners settle down. They protected them with their pokemon. It is widely believed that the pokemon the Alph used were the Unown. It is still not completely certain as to why the Alph helped the native Kantoans, but historians speculate that the Unown were a large part of the decision._

 _After several years, the population of Alph was getting to be too large. So, they sent some of the native Kantoans to scout out the rest of the region. At this point the Kantoans had more powerful pokemon and were able to properly defend themselves._

 _They went out and explored the region, setting up a settlement in what is now modern-day Ecruteak City. From there they went to present day Mahogany and Olivine. It was at this point that they decided they no longer wanted to be known as Kantoans, and Alph was only a small village, so they debated on a name for their region. After much deliberation and consulting of the Alph, the name Johto, meaning castle palace, was decided upon._

Cutter woke up the next morning, drool hanging from his mouth and _The Legends of Johto_ sprawled open on the floor. He didn't even remember falling asleep. He hadn't even made it through the first chapter. He did know that he had enjoyed what he had read so far, even if it was a bit dry.

"Teddi," said Bellow quizzically, cocking her head.

Cutter smiled and leaned in to grab his pokemon, staying quiet as to be sure not to wake the still sleeping Silver on the floor. "Come here, you." Bellow leaped into his arms and Cutter hugged the Little Bear tightly, scratching on top of her head, being sure to avoid the yellow crescent moon on her forehead. Sometimes she enjoyed being scratched there but other times she was vehemently against it. He would have to look into that.

After a couple minutes of lying together Cutter began to get ready to head out. They would leave for Azalea Town soon and he wanted to be sure he had everything he needed. Cutter had debated for a while on whether or not he wanted to go north to Ecruteak, south to Azalea, or west to Goldenrod. Ultimately he decided on Azalea. It was the second gym in the tradition main eight gym circuit. Cutter figured he should challenge Bugsy, the leader, early on while it was unlikely that Bugsy's weaker pokemon would have a counter for a rock type. If he waited too long and Bugsy used his real team, rock types would mean nothing to Bugsy's signature Scizor. Plus he had checked out the pokemon of the three routes and there were a few on the way to Azalea that Cutter wouldn't mind getting his hands on.

Cutter walked down to the front desk and returned the room key to the smiling nurse, thanked her, and headed on his way. As he was walking out of the city's southern gates, he looked back and smiled. One badge down, seven to go. He would be ready for the Silver Conference in no time.

It was about six hours into his travels to Azalea and Cutter had already beaten five newbie trainers easily. He had just beaten the fifth and was pocketing the money when he noticed that dark storm clouds were beginning to roll in. Then, before he knew it, it was pouring. Cutter returned his two pokemon, Silver being weak to water and Bellow just plain hating it, and began to sprint down the path, looking for cover. He knew he wouldn't be make it to Union Cave for another couple of days, so that was out of the question. He would have to find a different cave of some sort. As Cutter was running through the mud and the downpour continuing, a bolt of lightning struck and startled him, causing him to lose his footing and go down, sliding off the path and down the hill that the path sat upon. The hill was a lot taller than Cutter had realized and he continued to fall, struggling to grasp onto anything that might slow his fall, but to no avail.

Finally, he came to a stop. Completely covered in mud and still being drenched by the downpour he stood up and tried to collect his bearings. To his back was the hill and facing him was a forest. He figured he wouldn't be able to climb up the slick face of the hill and resigned to walking along the tree line, hoping the overhanging branches would provide some cover.

He had been walking for a few minutes when he came to a small clearing. He saw a gravel path back up to the main trail and made his way towards it when suddenly bolt after bolt of lightning began to strike in the center of the clearing, illuminating everything around. Cutter was barely able to make out the small shape of a pokemon in the clearing. He wasn't for sure but he thought it was a Mareep. He knew that the Ampharos line built up electricity in their bodies by absorbing lightning from storms, but this seemed to be a lot of electricity for one small Mareep to handle.

He saw the Mareep try to walk forward but stumble after the first few steps. Cutter started towards it but it righted itself and kept on going so he held back. It didn't get more than two more feet before collapsing due to the sheer amount of electricity it had just absorbed. "No!" Cutter called out, sprinting over to the fallen pokemon. He sprinted to the Mareep and picked it up, ignoring the small shock he got from the Wool pokemon. Now that he had the Mareep though, he had no idea what to do with it. The closest Pokemon Center was at least a six hour walk and he didn't want to make that in the rain with no pokemon to protect him. He pulled out his Pokedex and checked the map feature, seeing that the closest Ranger Station was two miles away.

 _I'll have to catch it. That way it can be protected in stasis until I can get it to that Ranger Station._ He didn't like catching the pokemon when it wasn't able to defend or decide for itself if it wanted to come with him, but he knew he could release it should the Mareep not want to continue travelling with him. He pulled out a pokeball and pressed it to the fainted Mareep's blue forehead. The small woolen pokemon was sucked into the pokeball in flash of red light before clicking, signifying it had been caught. _It's really in need of help. The pokeball didn't even struggle to hold it._

Cutter beat on the Ranger Station's door ten minutes later, bent over coughing his lungs out. _I'll have to start doing the cardio exercises with Silver and Bellow. I'm super out of shape._ The door swung open to reveal a tall, burly man with long brown hair wearing brown cargo pants and a red long sleeve jacket. He didn't say a word before pulling Cutter inside the large wooden building and closing the door.

"You okay, kid?" The man's voice was as deep and commanding as Cutter expected it to be.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's this Mareep that needs help." Cutter handed the pokeball to the man who walked through a wooden door to his left, allowing it to slam behind him leaving Cutter alone in the room. Then the man stuck his head back in, "well, are you coming or what?" Cutter hurried into the next room to find a large operating table and a woman pulling on a white lab coat.  
The room smelled of antiseptic and it was stark white, clean and modern, especially compared to the wooden outside. The Ranger tossed the pokeball to the woman and turned back to Cutter. "So what happened to your Mareep?"

"Oh, it's not my Mareep," Cutter began, before realizing that he had just caught the Mareep. Therefore, it was his Mareep. "Never mind." He shook his head. "Mareep was absorbing lightning from the storm." As Cutter recounted the short tale to the Ranger, the badge on his chest read Will, a gray bipedal pokemon with four arms walked in holding a glass of tea and a towel. The glass of tea looked comically small and delicate in the hands of such a powerful fighter and Cutter chuckled inwardly.

"Thank you Champ." The Machamp bowed its head slightly in response to Will and carefully handed Cutter the two items before turning and walking out of the room. He wrapped the towel around himself and sipped the tea. _What is up with people and giving me tea? I mean, I don't mind but this is the second time in two days._

Cutter finished his story and there was silence for a moment before Will grinned heartily.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Cutter. But that doesn't matter. That Mareep is in danger, or hurt, and needs assistance," Cutter protested, standing up, the towel falling from his shoulders.

A small delicate voice came from the back corner of the room. The woman who had been scanning Mareep's pokeball spoke up, walking towards the two of them as she talked. "Sir, your Mareep is fine. She is relatively young and it is to be expected for a pokemon of her age to not be able to properly handle such large amounts of electricity. More than likely she was trying to evolve but her young body just wasn't quite ready to handle the electricity required for evolution. Although it appears that she should be ready soon enough. Just do some training with her to help her release the excess electricity and she will be fine." She smiled softly and placed the unenlarged pokeball in Cutter's hand.

"Oh." Cutter sank back down into the chair, embarrassed at his outburst.

"Don't worry kid. The emotion shows you care. Not a lot of young trainers like yourself out there that care anymore. It gives us old guys hope," Will said with a wink, clapping Cutter on the back, the larger man's hand causing him to wince. "So what were you doing out in a storm like this?"

Cutter passed the pokeball back and forth in his hands, saying, "I didn't know there was going to be a storm, sir. I was on my way to Azalea from Violet when the storm rolled up out of nowhere. I certainly didn't plan on all of this happening."

The man nodded in as the woman continued working in the back of the room. "What other pokemon do you have?"

"A Larvitar and a Teddiursa," Cutter beamed, pulling out their pokeballs. "Want to meet them?"

Will nodded and Cutter released them onto the floor in front of him. "Will, this is Silver my Larvitar and Bellow my Teddiursa." They looked up at the large man and back at Cutter, not sure what to make of the situation. "There's a storm going on out there so we're camping out in here for a little bit." Bellow nodded in agreement and leapt up into Cutter's lap while Silver stood warily between the two, still unsure of the large man.

"He's distrustful of people he doesn't know. He thinks I could be a threat to you. He's very protective. That's good for a pokemon, especially one so young." Will leaned down and gingerly stuck his hand out to the Rock Skin pokemon. "I won't hurt you. I'm a friend." Silver's eyes darted back and forth between Cutter and Will before finally landing on Will, although less apprehensively. He allowed himself to be pet and Will rubbed the spot behind his horn, eliciting a pleased growl from Silver.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and when Will and Grace, Cutter had learned the woman's name, left him with a pallet on the floor, the storm was still raging on outside. "Well, now is as good of a time as ever I guess," Cutter muttered to his other two pokemon. "I caught another pokemon." At these words Silver glared at Cutter, and Bellow smiled showing her razor sharp teeth. "Hey, don't give me that look Silver. She's on our team now. I haven't let her out yet, but I wanted to let the two of you know before I returned you. She's a Mareep." Silver continued glaring but Bellow nodded happily. She had yet to experience a captured teammate so this was new to her. Silver's glare was the last thing Cutter saw of him as his Larvitar disappeared into the pokeball.

Cutter enlarged the pokeball and tossed it onto the ground, releasing the Mareep. It appeared on the wooden floor lying down, her yellow wool matted and wet from the rain, apparently still exhausted from before. Cutter fished around in his bag and pulled out a potion. He knelt on the floor next to the fainted pokemon and began to spray it. After the potion was completely empty the Wool pokemon's tail twitched and she opened her eyes. She pushed herself up onto all fours, taking in her surroundings. When her gaze landed on Cutter, her eyes widened in fear and she let out a scared "Maaa," and shout out a small dose of electricity, slightly shocking Cutter and knocking him back into the chair. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but he definitely felt it.

For a moment Cutter just lied there, his body stiff from the shock. He saw the Mareep looking at him apprehensively to see if he would move again. He was going to have to be careful. She was easily startled, it seemed.

"Mareep. I'm your trainer." Cutter slowly sat up, making no sudden movements. She was still staring warily at him, but she had yet to throw another bout of electricity towards him so he continued on. "I saw that you fainted in the middle of the storm so I brought you here. For healing." The Mareep cocked her head, obviously not understanding what Cutter was saying.

"Healing." Cutter pointed to the potion. "You were hurt. I wanted to help." Cutter took his words slow as if over enunciating would help the Mareep to understand better. Mareep still just stared so Cutter sighed in defeat, trying to think of what to say.

After a few seconds of trying to think of ways for the Mareep to trust him more, the sound of the Mareep's stomach rumbling reminded him of the pack of Oran berries in his backpack.

"You're hungry, aren't you girl?" At the word 'hungry' the Mareep's black and yellow dome like ears perked up. "I have food in my backpack. Just don't shock me and you can eat." Cutter began to crawl towards his backpack slowly, and the Mareep stumbled backing away from him. Fortunately, though, the small yellow pokemon didn't attack.

Cutter pulled out an Oran berry and held it out to the Mareep. Mareep stared at it for a moment, her soft black eyes darting back and forth between Cutter and the berry. Eventually she decided that her hunger was greater than her fear of the human in front of her. She cautiously walked towards Cutter, her eyes never leaving the berry. She reached Cutter and placed her small blue face in his hand and began to eat the Oran berry. Cutter was surprised at how soft her muzzle was. What Cutter really wanted was to pet her, but he knew that he would have to work his way up to that level of trust. First he needed to see if she even wanted to be a trained pokemon.

Once she was done eating, Cutter addressed her. "Mareep. I caught you. You're on my team now. Me and my other two pokemon are trying to become the strongest team there is. I think you could help us do that. What do you say?" For a moment there was nothing. Cutter doubted that the Wool pokemon even understood him, but eventually she placed her small head in his outstretched hand and maa-ed. Cutter took that as a yes and his face erupted into a smile.

"Do you want a nickname?" The Mareep thought for a moment before Cutter realized that she might not even understand what he was saying. Nonetheless she nodded. Cutter came up with several names, none of which she even responded to.

"Volt?" Her black eyes stared unblinkingly into his.

"Thunder?" Stare.

"Bolt?" Stare.

"Rillo?" A blink. "Rillo? You like Rillo?" Another blink. Cutter waited.

"Maa." Cutter smiled.

"It's good to welcome you to the team, Rillo. I need to scan you with my Pokedex though and get you all checked out if that's okay." Rillo the Mareep didn't reply so Cutter took it as a yes and held the small red Pokedex up to her.

" _Mareep. The Wool pokemon. Mareep stores static electricity in their wooly coat, doubling their size. The more static electricity is charged, the more brightly the lightbulb at the tip of its tail glows."_ Cutter glanced at the bulb and sure enough it was casting a light much brighter than he would have expected. _"This Mareep is a female and knows the moves tackle, thunder wave, thunder shock, growl, charge, and electric terrain."_

"You must be pretty close to evolution, huh Rillo? You've got some good moves." Rillo smiled and "maa-ed" in response, but when he reached his hand out to her, the sudden movement scared her, causing her to skitter away. "I'm sorry girl. I forgot how skittish you are." Cutter paused. Then it hit him. "You understood what I said. Why did you act like you couldn't understand me earlier?" Rillo looked down mareepishly, now Cutter saw where the term came from, and Cutter couldn't help but smile at her. "It's okay. You were scared. I definitely get that. I get scared sometimes too, ya know?" Rillo cocked her head at him. "Yeah. Right before our first gym battle, I almost didn't want to go in and battle. But I knew that I could trust my pokemon and that we would be fine. So, I swallowed my fear and went in. And thanks to Silver and Bellow, we won."

"Maa?"

"You want to meet my other pokemon?" Cutter looked down at the small yellow pokemon. The wool surrounding her torso was wet and dirty, matted with leaves and mud. Her yellow and black striped domelike ears were drooping along with her tail. "Let's get you cleaned up first, how about it?"

Cutter went and found Grace who, luckily, was still awake, and gave him some towels and a hairdryer. Then he went to work cleaning his pokemon with the towels. When he switched on the hairdryer, Rillo bleated in fear of the loud noise and scurried away, hiding behind the nearest couch. "I'm sorry Rillo. This is going to help dry you off and get your wool back to normal. Plus it's warm and feels good." He held out his hand tenderly, hoping she would come back.

"Maa." She gingerly made her way toward him and briefly laid her head in Cutter's hand before stepping away so she could be blow-dried. Once he turned the hairdryer back on, Rillo flinched but stood strong.

"Good girl," Cutter cooed, holding her face in his hand before he began. Turns out, Rillo strongly enjoyed being blow-dried. She basked in the warm air, smiling and letting out the occasional "maa." Cutter smiled, letting the warm air wash over her as he picked out pieces of leaf and gobs of mud, setting them on one of the towels Grace had given to him.

Soon enough she was clean, but Cutter could tell how much Rillo enjoyed it so he continued to blow-dry her long after her wool was done being cleaned.

Cutter switched off the blow-dryer after a few more minutes and immediately Rillo protested. She "maa-ed" and gently headbutted Cutter's arm. "Rillo, you're all clean. Plus, you still need to meet Silver and Bellow before we go to sleep. You still want to meet them, right?" Rillo bleated in agreement but looked down, obviously a little bit nervous. She certainly was a skittish pokemon and Cutter didn't want to put her through anything that would increase her fear. "Remember what I said about swallowing your fear? Just push through and have faith. I'm always going to be there for you. Plus Silver and Bellow are both my friends, just like you. They'll protect you just as much as I will. I promise." Rillo bleated pitifully but tried to put on a brave face and Cutter smiled at his newest pokemon's attempt at bravery. "Tomorrow then. You can meet them tomorrow, how about that?" Rillo looked unsure before deciding that was an acceptable compromise.

"A lot of times they sleep out in the open, with me. Would you want to sleep with me or in your pokeball?" Rillo swished her tail at the pokeball sitting in Cutter's open palm. Before he returned her, he nuzzled the top of her head. He got a little too close to Rillo's wool coat and got a small jolt of electricity to the hand. Cutter collapsed laughing, at that point he was so tired that everything was funny, and Rillo looked at him with a mix of confusion and apology. After Cutter regained his composure he assured Rillo that everything was okay before returning her.

Thanks to the storm not letting up, the next few days dragged on, much to Cutter and his team's despair, so they were holed up in the Ranger Station until the violent winds and rain passed. During that time though there was a lot of team bonding. After much coaxing and promising of berries and treats, Rillo eventually worked up the courage to meet the rest of Cutter's team. Upon being released they startled her and she shocked Silver. He didn't mind though. They played together quite a bit and cleaned up a lot of sand that Silver shed over the couple of days. Each night Cutter asked Rillo if she wanted to sleep with him, and each time she declined and returned to her pokeball. Neither Silver nor Bellow understood the electric pokemon's sleeping habits, seeing as how they took to both each other and their trainer immediately, but Rillo was a part of the team now and they didn't question their team. They got along well enough though. Rillo was constantly wary around Silver, but Grace informed him that it was due to her natural type weakness to him. Cutter was enjoying the off time he and his team were having but he was starting to feel anxious. He didn't enjoy being cooped up and after spending over a month travelling and not being forced to stay anywhere, the extended indoor stay at the Ranger Station was appreciated, but much too long.

Finally on the morning of his fourth day there, the storm cleared. It wasn't a gradual clearing, but an immediate one. Suddenly the rain stopped falling and the clouds were gone and all that was left was the soaked ground and a lot of fallen branches. As soon as the storm cleared Cutter thanked his hosts profusely and set out again on his way to Azalea Town, excited to continue on to the next badge.

xx

 **Hey guys, once again thanks for reading. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I'm working for a summer camp, so my opportunities to write are few and far between. But I always try to make time, so here it is. Hopefully as the end of the summer draws near I'll have more time to write. As usual if you have any suggestions or questions, let me know and I'm always happy to talk.**


	3. Hive

The sun was bright and shining overhead and there was a warm early-morning breeze blowing. Cutter would have been enjoying the pleasant weather, probably some of the last before the heat of summer hit Johto, had he not been struggling to convince Rillo to enter Union Cave in front of them.

"Rillo. Come on girl, I need you to be brave for me. My flashlight died last night and I can't see in Union Cave without you," Cutter pleaded, crouched down talking to his only pokemon out of its pokeball. Rillo backed away, ducking her head down into the wool on her chest.

Really, Cutter couldn't blame her for not wanting to enter. The entrance to the cave was kind of scary looking, Cutter admitted. And just inside the mouth of the small opening, just barely large enough for someone Cutter's height to walk through comfortably, were a cluster of sharp rocks, threatening to stab anyone who made a wrong step. Cutter hoped the entirety of Union Cave wasn't like that. IF it was, well, without flash or any other source of light, Cutter was practically dead already.

xx

Cutter had taught Rillo flash the day before. He spent close to thirty minutes trying to figure out how to put the TM perfectly onto the pokeball before remembering that there was a device specifically for transferring a TM's knowledge of the move to the pokemon. He kicked himself for not remembering that sooner. It was in one of his storage balls and once he finally remembered that, the process only took another two minutes. Then they had tested out, with much begging on Cutter's part, flash.

After Rillo used the move Cutter was blinded for several minutes. He had to sit down where he was, and Rillo had bleated in worry for her trainer. After that, Rillo decided to stop using flash completely. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her trainer.

Once Cutter's eyesight had returned, he had spent the next hour trying to convince Rillo to use flash again. They needed to practice using flash for longer periods of time in order to get through the darkness of Union Cave, but Rillo refused. She just bowed her head and occasionally bleated in protest. Cutter eventually gave in and returned her for the night. He didn't want to push her into doing something she didn't want to do. It was going to be difficult to get her to become a battling pokemon, but if she didn't want to be one, she didn't have to be one.

He spent the next hour after that teaching mega punch to Silver. It only took Silver a couple of tries to get it down and then by the end of the evening the Larvitar had the move pretty much perfected. He thought about teaching the move to Bellow as well, but ultimately decided against it, at least for now. Bellow was a quick hitter, not a power-packed puncher. While mega punch would certainly give her a little bit more power, it wasn't an attack that would benefit her that much. Her true strength lied in attacking quickly and, in the case of swift, from distance. Mega punch took too much time to charge and Bellow was too fragile for her to spend an extended amount so close to the opponent. Cutter would look back into it once she evolved.

Cutter called out Rillo once more to see if he could coax one more flash out of her, but to no avail, so he just said goodnight and returned her. She still didn't like sleeping outside of her pokeball and Cutter had to respect that. He wouldn't like sleeping out in the open either if he was as fearful as she was.

xx

"If you won't use flash, will you at least walk with me in Union Cave? You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, but I'd love for you to just walk with me." Cutter was crouched on one knee, staring with wide, pleading eyes. The more time Cutter spent with her, the closer they would grow, and being close with his pokemon was by far the most important thing to him. Being a strong trainer didn't matter if he didn't have pokemon that loved him by his side.

Rillo looked past him at the entrance to Union Cave, then back at him, then back to the cave's entrance again. She nodded hesitantly, looking at her trainer with more than a hint of fear in her eyes. Cutter rubbed the underside of her chin where her blue fur met her yellow wool, eliciting a pleased "maa" from his the Mareep. As he scratched her, he noticed that a small patch of the wool was starting to fall out. He rubbed the spot where the wool was missing and hid the worry from his face. He didn't need his most fearful pokemon to have a reason for any more distress than she already did.

xx

From the moment the light that trickled in from the entrance faded into darkness, Cutter could tell that Union Cave was going to be a pain in the ass to traverse. He and Rillo walked along slowly, and with every step Cutter used his foot to test the ground in front of them before putting any weight on it, for fear that they would step into one of the many rivers or ponds that Union Cave was home to.

Every now and then sparks would dance along Rillo's yellow wool, giving him a quick glimpse of her, but that was a rare occurrence. For the most part they were immersed in darkness.

Occasionally there was the sound of a pokemon, almost always a Zubat or Sandshrew, or the far off trickling of a stream, but generally it was silent. Cutter debated on whether or not to bring out Silver for protection. On one hand, he would be at home in this cave and the rocky environment would be to his advantage in battle. On the other he would be almost completely blind. He wasn't completely sure but he didn't think Silver could swim, and he didn't want to risk his starter's safety unless it was absolutely necessary. Then again, maybe he should work on improving Silver's vision in darkness. A wild Larvitar would have the advantage of seeing in the dark, an advantage that could certainly come in handy, especially once Silver fully evolved into Tyranitar and was partially a dark type. Ultimately Cutter decided against it, at least for the time being. His starter's safety was of utmost importance. He already had to worry about watching out for Rillo. The last thing he needed was the safety of two pokemon to worry about.

His thoughts switched over to Bellow. She could use swift, which would, however momentarily, light up the path in front of them. The downside to that was that it would probably disrupt the local pokemon's peace and he wanted to avoid that if at all possible. So, Cutter and Rillo walked on.

After about an hour of painstakingly slow travel, Cutter's foot touched water instead of solid ground. "Rillo, stop." He heard her stop next to him. "There's water. I don't know how far it goes." Silence. Cutter decided to try again, "Could you use flash? I have sunglasses specifically for flash, so you won't blind me again." There was silence for a while longer.

 _Damn. I need to be able to see. This is going to be a long trip._

xx

Ordinarily trekking through Union Cave only took a day, max. But in Cutter and his team's case, it took them three. It was slow going. The first day dragged on, but it dragged on without event and Cutter supposed that was a decent enough tradeoff. The most eventful thing that happened was when Cutter saw a Zubat fly by when he released Bellow and returned Rillo. Even then, it was headed in the opposite direction. As much as Cutter enjoyed the peace of the cave, he secretly longed for something to happen. Nothing terrible, just something that would require him to think on his feet and just go for it. He got his wish on the second day.

Shortly after Cutter returned Silver and Bellow after lunch on their second day in the cave, he heard a high pitched squeal off to his left. He turned, startled, and reached for Rillo, his first thought to protect her. For a second he thought it was her that had caused the noise, but he realized that her cry was deeper than that of the squeal they had heard. His arm was around her and he could feel her trembling body as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms, ignoring the slight static shocks that this brought.

He gulped down his fear. He had to be strong for the scared Mareep in his arms. Cutter had to show her that he could be brave. Hopefully this would help her realize that she too could be brave. As he began to walk towards where he thought the sound came from, another scream came from off to his right, and he felt Rillo tense up in his arms. Then a cacophony of screams began and all hell broke loose.

They were dive-bombed by what he figured were Zubat. Luckily for them, the Zubat weren't using their teeth in the attack and instead were just divebombing him. It still hurt, though, and his main priority was protecting the pokemon cradled in his arms. Cutter struggled to pull Silver and Rillo's pokeballs out of their pocket on his vest, but Rillo's bulk was preventing much arm movement. He tried to set her down, but she refused, and it was too loud for him to explain why. So he decided to run.

Running wasn't much better than standing, but it was something. At least he thought it was before he felt his foot catch on a rock and he fell. As he fell he twisted around so that his back hit the ground first, protecting Rillo. She bleated when they hit the ground, but ultimately she was unharmed. Cutter was fine as well, just winded.

As it turned out, running did almost nothing. He had barely made it ten feet and the Zubat were quicker in the air than Cutter was on the ground. They continued their bombardment on the defenseless Cutter and Rillo. Cutter struggled to turn over to protect the terrified electric pokemon in his arms, but before he could do anything else to help her, she lit up with a flash of bright white light, rolling out of his arms. For the briefest of moments Cutter hoped that she was evolving, but he realized that she was using flash, blinding him again.

With her out of his arms he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out Silver's pokeball. He thought about returning Rillo, but due to her sudden spike in bravery he decided against it. He didn't want to discourage it.

Silver appeared in the cave, the flash of his pokeball drowned out by the light emanating from Rillo. "Lar?" Silver shielded his eyes, blinded as well by the flash.

"Sandstorm. You don't need to be able to see. Just sandstorm. No rocks. Rillo is out," Cutter wheezed, still trying to catch his breath from the fall. Without a reply, Silver started up a sandstorm and soon it took up the area around them. Cutter blindly felt around for Rillo, trying to protect her from the sands that were whipping mercilessly around them. It only took him a second to find her and pull her close into his body, protecting her as much as possible.

After almost a minute, Cutter called Silver off. For a moment Cutter stayed tense, fearing the Zubat would resume their attack, but there was nothing, save the sound of running water somewhere off to their right. When Cutter was sure they were safe, he collapsed onto the ground, letting go of Rillo. Both Silver and Rillo rushed to him, Rillo still glowing slightly, giving the area around them an artificial yellow tint. Rillo gingerly licked her trainer's forehead with a rough tongue while Silver checked out Cutter's arms and legs which were raw and tender from the sandstorm. His hands and face had been protected from the worst of it with Rillo's wool. Luckily Cutter had endured this before from all the times that he had slept with Silver when he was young, so while the tender skin still stung, it didn't bother him like it used to.

"Thanks you two. I don't know what I would have done without you." He turned to the newly-brave Mareep. "Rillo, you were so brave. That flash was incredible! And Silver, I'm lucky your sandstorm is so powerful." He saw both of his pokemon grin in the fading glow of Rillo's flash. He reached out and rubbed Silver behind his horn and Rillo at the top of her wool, eliciting a pleased rumble and bleat from them respectively.

xx

The three of them walked on for a while before he decided to release Bellow as well and the four of them went on together. Silver walked next to his trainer, Bellow sat on his shoulders and Rillo walked ahead, keeping up a dim version of the flash, illuminating the cave around them.

Every so often Rillo would turn back around to check on her trainer, and she never wandered more than a few feet from her trainer. At first Cutter thought it was out of fear of the Zubat in the cave, but as it went on he realized that she was being protective of him. It seemed that the event with the Zubat wasn't just a stint of bravery. Cutter could only hope that it lasted.

xx

That night Rillo slept out of her pokeball, not two feet from her trainer. The gravity of that didn't escape Cutter, and he realized that her using flash and saving him had done something for her. It seemed that she was getting braver.

The next day passed quickly and before they realized it, they had reached the exit for Union Cave. Silver had had to ward off a couple of rogue Sandshrew they had stumbled across, but other than that the rest of the trip was uneventful. Cutter had briefly considered catching one of them, but decided against it. He had his hands full with the team he had. He didn't need to add another member quite yet, and he wanted each of his current pokemon to feel as if they were getting enough individual attention and training. As time went on and he got more pokemon, that wouldn't be nearly as plausible, but for now it was and he didn't want to waste that.

xx

During the rest of the trek Rillo's bravery had held strong. She never used an attack other than the dim flash, but she wasn't nearly as skittish as she had been. She had a long way to go, but Cutter couldn't help but smile at how far one event had helped her come.

As Cutter and Bellow stepped out of the cave's entrance and back into the open air, they were greeted with a downpour of rain. Cutter had been so excited to get out of the cave that he had completely ignored the fact that the sun wasn't shining.

They hurriedly scuttled back into the mouth of the cave, standing there staring out at the rain falling onto the grass in front of them. Bellow shook herself dry and hissed at the water threateningly, and Cutter realized that he had forgotten how much she hated water. He chuckled lightly as she looked up at him, gesturing at his vest. "You want to be returned?" She answered with a nod and she disappeared into the pokeball. Cutter sent out Rillo. He figured she could get some extra electricity from the storm.

Cutter sat down, back against the cave wall, gazing out absentmindedly at the rain. He knew they were still two or three days from Azalea, and it was nearing night anyways. As much as he didn't want to, it wouldn't hurt to stay one more night in the cave.

He released Silver to sit with him while Rillo played in the rain. He wanted to go play with her, but she was a natural lightning rod, or so it seemed, and he really didn't want to die. Not then at least. He still had a Silver Conference to win. So, he just sat there with his starter. They started out in silence. After a while, they began to play a game. Cutter would toss up a rock and then Silver would attempt to snipe it using a small pebble. It started out simple, but after a while Cutter was tossing up multiple rocks in different directions and Silver was getting good at it. Cutter knew it seemed silly, but it helped a lot with Silver's reaction time and accuracy. Even when playing games Cutter was trying to train.

Most Tyranitar were beasts, all brute strength and pure endurance and willpower, but Cutter wanted more for Silver's future. He wanted Silver to have the strength and endurance that most Tyranitar had, but he wanted Silver to be smart and able to think and react on his feet. He didn't want Silver charging into every challenge head on. He needed him to be able to be innovative like other Tyranitar and similar pokemon weren't able to be.

Cutter smiled to himself as Silver hit his most recent targets—four medium rocks tossed up at the same time and low to the ground. Silver smiled and looked at his trainer expectantly. "Let's take a break, okay? It's getting close to dinner, don't you think?" Silver rumbled in agreement and Cutter called Rillo back over to them while releasing Bellow.

An hour later they were all full off of a dinner of peanut butter and honey for Cutter and Bellow, rocks for Silver, and grass for Rillo. They were lounging lazily in the mouth of the cave, the rain still pouring heavily just feet away. Occasionally Bellow would swipe at the water that dripped in from the lip of the top of the cave's entrance and then hiss at it, but for the most part everything was peaceful.

Cutter startled awake sometime later, not even aware that he had been drifting off. He had been dreaming about the swirling black mass and bright white light from the vision again. It seemed that Cutter couldn't sleep without that vision invading his subconscious. The dream was just as confusing as always. He couldn't see anything more than the swirling black and bright white. As of late the dream was silent as well, so he couldn't even try and tell anything from the humming that had previously overwhelmed him in the dream.

Cutter looked over and Rillo was curled up next to him, asleep. With each breath, her small body rose and sparks danced on her thick wool coat. Sprawled out on his lap was Bellow, drool hanging from her open mouth, the crescent moon on her forehead dim but still glowing nonetheless. He kept telling himself to look into that, but he kept forgetting. He made a mental note to ask the nurse at the Pokemon Center in Azalea about that, along with Rillo's wool falling out. Until then, he could check the Pokedex, he realized. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of that before, and he mentally smacked himself for just now thinking of it. Across from him Silver sat, leaned against the wall, eyes wide open and reflecting the pale, rainy moonlight that crept into the cave.

"Silver." His starter's head turned towards him, clearly startled. He hadn't noticed that Cutter had awoken. Silver got up from his spot on the wall and came and sat next to his trainer, being sure to avoid Cutter's already scabbing arms. "Why haven't you slept yet?" Silver looked away from him and back out at the rain. Things were silent for a moment.

"Larvi." Silver looked back up at Cutter, eyes wide. Cutter couldn't help but smile at him. "I know you care about me and want to protect me. And I'm so thankful for that. But you won't be able to battle properly if you aren't well rested. You're the strongest on the team, and I'm going to need you for this next gym battle." Silver replied with a nod of his head, and Cutter leaned his forehead down, Silver pressing back with his horn. For a second, they were connected—trainer and starter. Then they both pulled back and Cutter offered Silver a smile, which the Larvitar returned.

Silver got up to walk back to the other side of the cave but Cutter wasn't having it. "Stay. Let's all sleep right here together. As a team." Silver hesitated and his eyes flitted from his trainer's face to his hurt arms and back again. The glance wasn't missed by Cutter. "I'll be okay. I promise. This is nothing." Silver nodded and settled back down, nestling into Cutter's side. They both drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.

When Cutter awoke the next time, it was day and the sun was peeking hesitantly through the clouds. The rain had stopped, but the clouds made it apparent that the storm could pick up at any moment. He looked around and saw his team waking up as well. Silver had clearly been up for some time, and Rillo was stretching next to him. Bellow was sitting on his lap, looking up at him with a huge grin on her face. She leapt at him and he wrapped her up in a hug. "It's good to see you too girl. How'd you sleep?" She answered him with a lick to the face. He laughed and hugged her tighter before letting her go.

He stood up and stretched, his body complaining with soreness from the hard bed and irregular way he had been situated while he slept. He and his team ate a quick breakfast before heading out of the cave and into the cool morning air. Cutter soaked in the coolness, realizing that this storm brought what would likely be some of the last cool weather before the summer heat. Summers in Johto were hot. They weren't nearly as bad as the summers in Hoenn but Cutter had never been to Hoenn, so he didn't care too much about their weather. In all, the weather in Johto was very temperate. Sure, it got colder up north near Mahogany and was warmer in the south, specifically the southwest where the beaches were, but all in all Johto, along with Kanto and Unova, were very temperate regions. Alola and Hoenn were, for the most part, very warm. Kalos tended to lean towards the cooler side, while Sinnoh was just downright cold, especially in the north. Cutter had heard horror stories of blizzards and Abomasnow attacks, and he couldn't imagine being a new trainer in that region. Especially since they had the training age at fifteen. In Cutter's humble and expert opinion, that was entirely too young.

Bellow sat on Cutter's shoulders as they walked. She hated water, even if it was just puddles on the ground. He tried to get her to walk several times but she heartily refused. Silver and Rillo walked on either side of him. Rillo still seemed to be wary of him, but ever since the Zubat incident she didn't seem to be scared of him, which Cutter saw as another huge stepping stone.

They battled several trainers along the way that first day. At first it was hard because in some capacity none of his pokemon really wanted to battle. Bellow hated water and, until Cutter bribed her with some Oran berries, outright refused to battle. Cutter knew that she could be a little prissy, but he hadn't realized that she was this much of a diva. Silver was weak to water, and even the puddles on the battlefield still caused him to be wary. And Rillo was still too scared to actually battle. She had come a long way, but she hadn't come that far. Not yet at least.

But still they prevailed. They didn't lose any of the three battles they had after lunch. Silver and Bellow both stayed away from the water while battling and Rillo was learning just from watching, or so Cutter hoped. Cutter really wanted to work on Silver's water weakness. He had done some research into helping to eliminate type weaknesses, but there was no surefire way to go about it. In some capacity, Silver would always be weak to water, but there were ways that he could reduce that weakness. The easiest way was to teach Silver harden and get him to use harden, especially outside of battle, and then soak him with water while he was still using harden. Then from harden Silver would learn iron defense, which was essentially just a stronger and more protective form of harden. Cutter hated the idea of hurting his pokemon on purpose, but he could bring the idea up to Silver and let him decide for himself. The second option was much simpler. Just feed him Passho berries. Passho berries were a lot like Babiri and Chople berries, but instead of building up fighting or steel resistance, it built up water resistance. The only problem was that Cutter had no idea how to get his hands on any Passho berries.

The next day passed much the same as the first day. Then so did the third day, until the late afternoon at least. Cutter was only a couple hours from Azalea when he happened across the trainer that had trounced Terrance on their way to New Bark Town.

"Hey kid." Cutter turned around and saw him, the same smug smile he had on his face when they had met the first time widened into a grin when he recognized Cutter. "You're that kid that wouldn't battle me before. When I stomped that other kid a while back."

"What do you want?" Cutter asked, irritated already by the older trainer.

"I just want to battle. Is that too much to ask? You don't have to get so snappy with me." He feigned the look of a kicked Growlithe and Cutter just groaned. "I tried to be nice. Let's battle."

"Fine, fine." Cutter raised his arms in defeat. "One on one?"

"Sounds good to me kid." The older trainer calling him kid was starting to grate on his nerves.

"Cutter."

"What?"

"My name. It's Cutter. And I'm eighteen, so I'm not a kid." Cutter clenched his fists, the other boy wearing on his nerves.

"Mm. I see. And I'm Logan, a name you should remember, but until you prove yourself worthy as a trainer to me, I don't give a Rattata's ass what _your_ name is. _Kid_." The way that Logan had put emphasis on "kid" really grated on Cutter's nerves. There was a bout of silence before he spoke again, a smirk cropping up on his face. "I like you, so I won't use Bones. I'll give you a fighting chance. This is one of my newest pokemon." He winked at Cutter and tossed out a pokeball, a small pale green pokemon with a dark green magnolia leaf sprouting out from the top of its head. Chikorita. "This here is Gracie. Isn't she the cutest little thing you ever did see?" he cooed at the grass type, the baby voice he put on looking comical in contrast to his punk look.

"Bellow, you're up." Bellow released from the pokeball and appeared in between Gracie and Cutter.

"I'll get this started. Razor leaf." The sweetness he had shown toward his Chikorita was gone, replaced by a fierceness Cutter recognized from his short time battling.

"Swift." The razor-sharp leaves met the glowing stars with a small explosion, but Cutter didn't waste any time. "Quick swift," Cutter called out, his voice low enough so that hopefully only Bellow could hear him. She blurred into a quick attack, zigzagging around the Chikorita, firing swifts at random at the Leaf pokemon.

"Multivine on the ground." At least ten vines sprung out from the necklace of buds around Chikorita's neck and began to slap at the ground, creating a cloud of dust around Gracie. "Blow it." Chikorita spun her vines, effectively making a gust. The sand began to blow out in all directions from Chikorita, effectively coating most of the field in a sand attack, limiting Bellow's sight.

Just as Cutter opened his mouth to call out a command, he heard a yelp that undoubtedly came from Bellow. "Finish this. Slam him." Cutter saw nothing for a moment. Then he saw two vines holding a struggling Bellow rise up from the cloud of dust.

Cutter's face remained steely but his insides were going wild. He was panicking, not even because he was about to lose to this jerk of a trainer, but because the battle had gone on for less than a minute. But why did he care so much? Logan had clearly been a trainer for a considerably longer time than Cutter, so it shouldn't bother him if he lost. But something in him was striving for this trainer's approval. He realized that he didn't even really want to win for the sake of winning. He just wanted Logan to think he was a good trainer. Why did he want to win his approval so badly? Cutter pushed these thoughts out of his mind and focused on the battle. A battle he was clearly losing. "Baby tears!" Cutter cried out in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of this battle. He didn't even know if the Leaf pokemon could see Bellow through the small makeshift sandstorm, but he had to try something.

Bellow started crying with her big, black eyes staring down at her opponent below. For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of Bellow's wailing, but then Logan decided he had had enough. "Gracie, slam him!" The Chikorita's leaf twitched slightly, but that was the only acknowledgement that Logan got from his pokemon. Slowly the Chikorita began to lower Bellow to the ground. Without Cutter's instruction, Bellow fired a large flurry of swifts at her opponent, causing a small dust cloud to stir up. Cutter sighed in relief. The baby tears tactic had paid off, but the battle wasn't over yet.

Bellow sprinted back to their side of the makeshift battlefield. Out of the dust flew a razor leaf attack, the leaves coming in too fast for even Bellow to get out of the way. Bellow wasn't the only one hurt by the attack, though. This was an outdoor battle in the middle of nowhere and there was no psychic barrier to protect the trainers. One of the leaves had gone astray and Cutter barely had time to turn his head to the side before the leaf grazed his cheek, tearing a huge gash on his face. And then the blood started to flow, and there was a lot of it.

Cutter pressed his hand to his face, and the blood he saw on his hand dropped him to his knees. He still hadn't registered any pain, but Cutter had just never been one for blood, and his own was certainly no exception. He just sat there, hand pressed against his face, not knowing what to do. Bellow ran over to him with eyes wide in alarm. She was covered in her own share of gashes, though none of hers as bad as his. Pokemon were more resilient that way. Even though she had taken the razor leaf attack more head on and more directly than Cutter had, she still had only taken minimal damage, and no blood was shed.

Both Cutter and Bellow missed the look of alarm cross Logan's face before he returned Gracie and sprinted over to them. "Dammit, kid. Let's go. We've gotta get this cleaned up. He hurriedly pulled a rag out of his backpack and pressed it against Cutter's face, telling him "hold this there." Cutter made no move to do as the older trainer said, so Logan took Cutter's hand himself and moved it up to his face himself. "Now, have you ever teleported before?" Cutter didn't respond. "Didn't think so. This is going to be… interesting." Logan released a Mr. Mime and grabbed on to both the Mr. Mime and Cutter. "Azalea Hospital, Reef." The only response the Mr. Mime, Reef, gave was by teleporting them into the lobby of Azalea Hospital. Logan released Cutter's arm and was gone again without even a flash of light or a pop from the Mr. Mime's teleporting. The fact that there was no telltale sign or evidence of the teleportation showed just how well trained the Mr. Mime was.

The receptionist squealed at the sight of the suddenly appearing and disappearing boy, but then quickly regained her composure upon seeing Cutter's bloody face. She called something out but Cutter didn't hear her. He felt a pair of large hands grab him and he thought he heard a voice talking to him, but he couldn't make out any individual words.

xx

Three hours and sixteen stitches later Cutter was walking alone out of the hospital, all his pokemon in their pokeballs. He had been told by the doctor he was lucky. The razor leaf had hit his cheekbone. Had it been an inch higher it would have taken out his right eye. The doctor wanted him to stay overnight, just in case of complications from the hit so close to the eye, but Cutter insisted upon leaving. He would still be in Azalea, so should anything happen he could easily and quickly make his way back to the hospital. He had had to promise the doctor that he wouldn't leave Azalea Town's city limits until at least twenty-four hours later, but that promise had gotten him the doctor's approval for release.

He supposed that he should be grateful he still had his eye, but the only emotion that he could muster was embarrassment. He was a good trainer with a badge and three pokemon. He should have a better reaction time or something at this point, right? He should have been able to dodge the attack.

All the training his pokemon were doing would help him as well, Cutter realized. As he walked he thought about his approach to battling. It was very head on, and he didn't worry much about dodging. Cutter relied on his pokemon to take hits and then go in for attacks of their own. That wouldn't work forever. His team had yet to come across a talented trainer or a good pokemon with a type advantage, but realistically, at this point in his pokemon's lives at least, one super-effective attack could, and would, put them down for the count. If that had been Silver against that Chikorita then he would have fainted from the razor leaf, if not sooner. Plus, Bellow wasn't built to take hits. She was smaller than most of her species. Her true power lied in speed and evasiveness, not bulk. Their next training session would have to include evasive techniques. That also meant that Cutter had to learn up on some evasive techniques.

Before Cutter even realized it, he was in front of the Azalea Town Gym. The Gym Leader, oddly enough named Bugsy, was a bug type specialist. Cutter had heard people joke about whether he trained bug pokemon because his name was Bugsy, or if the name Bugsy was more of a nickname that came about because of his immense love for bug pokemon. Bugsy's signature pokemon, a Scizor, wouldn't be used against Cutter. Scizor, once a Scyther, was his starter pokemon and much too strong to be used against a trainer with only one badge and no evolved pokemon. Cutter knew that even though the gym leader wouldn't be using his Scizor, Bugsy would still give him a run for his money.

Cutter remembered stories that his father told of Bugsy from back in his day. They were both boys of the same age from Azalea Town, so for a while they journeyed together. They both started with bug types, Bugsy a Scyther and Cutter's father a Ledyba. Ledyba tended to be looked down upon as not only the weakest bug pokemon but one of the weakest pokemon that there is. Cutter's father proved everyone wrong by advancing to the finals of the Silver Conference when he was fourteen with a team that had a Ledian as its star pokemon.

Cutter turned away from the gym and began walking towards the Pokemon Center, his face set in a determined smile. He would win his second gym badge within the next couple of days and nothing could stop him.

The rest of that day was spent at one of the battle plots inside Azalea's Pokemon Center where he would be staying for the next several days. Cutter released his pokemon and had them do some simple exercises with their moves. He planned on challenging the gym soon and wanted his pokemon to be in tip-top shape. That night was a little heavier duty, but the next day would be just light exercises.

At first he had Rillo just work on some cardio and flash exercises. Bellow worked on improving her quick attack speed and endurance with the attack along with the accuracy of swift on the move. For Silver, Cutter had him focus on the strength and size of sandstorm—making it large and encompassing and then bringing it down and making it incredibly strong yet small in a compact ball of swirling sands. For about an hour they worked on these things. Then they got a short break before moving on to some light sparring.

Cutter explained to his pokemon that their next exercise would have Silver and Bellow sparring in the dark, depending on senses other than sight for this fight. This went back to when the old man from the forest, Ray, had his Cacnea attack Silver and Bellow when they were focusing on other things, but it also was about fine tuning their senses. Some trainers would use moves like sand attack, blinding the pokemon, or double team, making it hard to tell which pokemon was the real one. Cutter wanted his team to be able to tell which pokemon were which based on sound and smell and feel—all of which were much more reliable than sight. Neither of them were allowed to use any actual attacks though, only wrestling and boxing, of a sort.

For the next hour, it was total darkness, except for the occasional flash Cutter had Rillo use to throw Silver and Bellow off balance. Once they were done, it was apparent that Silver had ultimately come out victorious. It was what Cutter had expected, after all. Silver could use his connection to the ground to always tell where Bellow was. Plus, his natural rock typing made it hard for any of Bellow's punches to make an impact. Without the use of metal claw, Bellow was hard pressed to even hurt Silver. Silver didn't come out completely unscathed, though. Bellow was quick, making it hard for Silver to always get hits off, so by the time they were finished they were both panting and tired.

Once their training was done for the night it was time to eat and for bed. Cutter wanted everyone to be well rested for the adventure that the next day held in store. His parents had made him promise to always take a break from training while in a new town and Cutter had a few ideas for what he wanted to do in Azalea Town.

Cutter rolled over sleepy eyed and still tired and checked the time on his Pokedex. 7:45 a.m. Somehow his pokemon had let him sleep in, even if only a little bit. Cutter laughed inwardly at himself, finding it almost hilarious that he now considered 7:45 a late time to be waking up.

Once the team was ready to go, they headed out of the pokemon center and out of Azalea Town, full off of a breakfast buffet that the Center provided complimentarily. They headed east towards what was known as Slowpoke's Well. Both his mother and father had recommended visiting the well. Even if the wild pokemon there weren't overly rare or strong, there was an occasional trainer and the connection that the well held to the Rocket Revival was something that needed to be seen with his own eyes, his parents had told him.

It only took an hour to get to the well, and once he was there he returned his pokemon. None of them would be able to climb the ladder down into the well with him. He stepped up to the giant well and looked down into its gaping mouth. There was a rickety ladder connected to the side opposite Cutter and the well seemed to go down forever. How this passed any kind of safety laws, he had no idea.

Cutter walked around to the other side of the well and swallowed down his fear of heights as he swung his legs over the side of the well and began the descent to the bottom. As he climbed, it was eerily silent, with only the occasional _drip_ of water or _screech_ of a Zubat. It didn't seem that there were any other people down there.

Several minutes later and Cutter's feet touched solid ground once more and he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He released his three pokemon and looked around the large cave. The only light source was the sunlight shining in through the well's mouth, so Rillo used flash and illuminated everything around them. The cave was considerably larger than Cutter had initially thought. It wasn't full of tunnels like Mt. Moon, but instead it was just one cavernous room. Even Rillo's bright flash couldn't illuminate all the way across the giant underground chamber.

They made their way forward into the cave, making sure to stay away from the stagnant pond off to their left. All over the walls, Cutter noticed, were large faded red "R's". Rocket, they stood for. Cutter remembered the story that his parents had told him about this place. It was shortly after Cutter's father had left on his journey that Slowpoke Well had been discovered to be hosting an illegal underground, literally, Rocket Operation. The Rockets had been using Slowpoke's Well as a hideout, as well as a source of Slowpoke tails, a nutritious and tasty, yet very illegal, treat.

During that time Slowpoke were an endangered species in Johto so catching them was strictly prohibited. It was especially terrible when it was found out that Rocket was capturing Slowpoke, cutting off their tails, and then setting them free, back into the wild mutilated and in pain. Not only that, but then the Slowpoke couldn't evolve naturally. Without a tail to fish for Shellder with, they had no means to an evolution until their tail regrew, but that could take upwards of six months.

Soon after the Rocket Operation was found out, it was shut down. Bugsy's father, the old Azalea Gym Leader and bug type expert, led an assault against the Rockets with an old trainer named Kurt.

Cutter wasn't recalling all of this from memory, of course. There was a plaque in front of the wall that held host to the majority of the "R's" that gave him most of this information.

Cutter and his team made their way through the cavern, Rillo's bright yellow light casting an eerie glow on everything around them. Large outcroppings of rock cast large shadows and every Zubat that flew by had an even larger shadow accompanying it. But still no wild pokemon bothered them.

They explored for the next couple of hours, making sure to never wander too far from the cave's entrance. He didn't want to get lost and die in Slowpoke's Well before he even truly got into his journey.

Out of all of his pokemon, Silver certainly enjoyed the cave the most. The small Larvitar was uncharacteristically happy and "talkative". Silver's usual calm and poised demeanor was lost in the cave, joking about and playing with his fellow teammates. As Cutter sat on a small boulder watching his pokemon play he couldn't help but smile. Even though they only had one badge, they would be strong. He already had a diverse team and he could tell that each of these three pokemon would grow to be immensely powerful in their own right.

Later that night, following a short training session on a battle plot back at the Pokemon Center, they settled into the room with to-go plates from the cafeteria. They ate and laughed together, Cutter talking about their fun and relaxing Slowpoke's Well adventure. Then, without even climbing into bed, the four of them fell asleep in a pile on the floor, Cutter laid on his stomach, arms under his head. Silver was leaned against Cutter's side; Bellow was lying on his back and Rillo was fast asleep between Cutter's legs.

The next morning Cutter awoke to the sun pouring in through the window and his pokemon still asleep around him. He tried to stand without disturbing them but found that it was impossible, so he just laid there for as long as he could and tried to entertain himself by thinking about the battle he would be having in just a short while. That lasted for all of fifteen seconds and then he got bored. He gingerly removed himself from the pile of pokemon, waking both Silver and Bellow in the process. Cutter stepped over the still-sleeping Rillo and grabbed his Pokedex, checking the time.

 _NOON? Holy hell. How did we sleep so late? Gotta go gotta go gotta go._ Cutter began to internally freak out, not sure how he had managed to sleep that long. They had turned in early that night and regardless his pokemon usually woke him. He wanted to be done with the battle by about eleven a.m., but that certainly wouldn't be happening.

Cutter gently roused Rillo. Once he was sure all of his pokemon were awake he brushed his teeth and they were out the door.

They ate a quick, light breakfast, or really lunch, before heading to the same indoor battle plot they had used the night before. Cutter had the whole team, himself included, jogging around for a while before he split them up to work on individual techniques for a short while.

Thirty minutes later and Cutter was out into the Azalea Town streets, in front of the gym, his pokemon returned. The gym seemed much larger today than it did yesterday, and Cutter noticed that the nerves he felt from his first gym battle were back again. This time however, it seemed that they were more subdued than before. He smiled softly to himself and pushed open the glass double doors, letting himself in.

"Welcome to Azalea Gym, bug type gym. Are you here to challenge the Leader?" Cutter looked behind the desk to see a young man, around twenty, clicking away at the computer, completely disinterested in the new challenger.

"Yes. I am. Here's my Pokedex." Cutter slid the small red device across the counter. The man registered it and slid it back across the desk.

"Go in the doors to my left, Bugsy will be in there waiting." And that was it. The boy, whose nametag read "Ken", never even glanced up at him. Cutter just shrugged it off and went into the room Ken had told him to. The room was huge, although nothing compared to the cavern they had been in yesterday, and either side of it was taken up by massive stands. Those, Cutter supposed, were for when people with six or seven badges came in and the general public wanted to come in and see a good battle. For now, no one would be coming to watch, and unless they were family or very close friends, no one was allowed to. Once you got more than four badges, you had to schedule your battle at least a day in advance. That way the gym could advertise for the battle in case anyone wanted to come and watch. The reason for this, Cutter's father had told him, was so trainers with less than four badges could get used to battling strong trainers without the added stress of a crowd. But once you got more than four badges you were well on your way to the Silver Conference, where there would be hundreds of thousands of people watching. It was all about the League looking out for the trainers.

The battle plot was ankle high grass and sporadic flowers scattered about. In the left corner closest to where a man, who Cutter assumed to be Bugsy, stood was a giant tree that stretched up nearly to the roof. Around the room there were smaller trees and flowers.

"So you're old Carey's son, huh? I remember your father quite well. He was quite the battler," Bugsy said with a hearty chuckle. The two of them met halfway on the battlefield and shook hands, Bugsy's giant hand encompassing his own. Bugsy was a lot taller and more muscular than Cutter had expected. The pictures Cutter had seen had been from nearly thirty years back, but back then Bugsy had been quite small. "But, you're here for a battle. We can talk about your father later, huh?"

"Yes we can. I'm here to battle," Cutter said with a confidence he almost felt.

"That's what I like to hear. Greg over there will be the referee. It'll be a two-on-two battle. I can make no substitutions, but you can make one whenever one of my pokemon faints. How does that sound?" Bugsy let out another hearty laugh, putting Cutter more at ease.

"Perfect," Cutter smiled.

"Well good luck." They shook hands once more and made their way back to their respective sides.

"I'll release first. This one is in honor of your father." Bugsy tossed out a pokeball, releasing a Ledyba, Cutter's father's starter. Cutter just smiled and responded by throwing out a pokeball of his own, releasing Bellow onto the field. He had debated on whether or not to start with Bellow, but he decided that he needed Silver to be in tip-top shape for whatever Bugsy's second pokemon would be.

"Begin!" Greg yelled out, swinging the two flags up into the air.

"Ledyba, swift!" While Falkner had been calm and collected, it seemed that Bugsy got very involved in the battle. Even though only one attack had been called, Cutter could already tell by the way Bugsy swung his arms around while calling out the attack that they were two very different gym leaders.

"Swift back." The attacks met and resulted in a brilliant explosion of yellow and white, but neither Cutter nor Bugsy wasted time watching the spectacle.

"Quick attack," they two trainers called out simultaneously. Both the Ledyba and Bellow blurred into a nearly invisible quick attack, but Cutter didn't plan on leaving the footing even. "Feint attack." At her trainer's command, the blur of tan that was Bellow turned a deep black and disappeared. An instant later it reappeared to the right of the Ledyba, slamming into it, executing a perfectly timed feint attack.

"Nice, boy. You certainly are Carey's child. Ledyba, quick attack again."

Cutter waited for the Ledyba to get close enough before yelling out Bellow's next move, "Baby Tears!" Bellow's eyes grew wide and sad and she began to wail, halting the Ledyba in its tracks mere feet from where Bellow stood. "Now quick attack into scratch!" The quick attack might have been overkill with how close the two pokemon were to each other, but Cutter knew better than to underestimate Bugsy.

In a blur of claws and tan fur Bellow slammed into dazed Ledyba. With its guard down from Baby Tears, Ledyba didn't stand a chance and was promptly returned back to its pokeball.

"Nice one. Too bad Carey couldn't be here to see you battle. Let's see how you handle my next pokemon. Ledyba was just a warmup." Bugsy tossed a pokeball onto the field, and in a flash of white a bipedal green pokemon appeared. With wicked sharp scythes instead of arms and four buzzing wings on its back, Scyther was not a pokemon to be taken lightly. Even from all the way across the field Cutter could see the blades glint in the artificial light of the gym.

"Bellow, stay back. Try and fight from distance." Bellow nodded in response and readied herself.

"Sam, use quick attack and slash." Sam sped into a quick attack that made Bellow look slow, even when she was at full speed. She wasn't going to be able to run from the Scyther.

"Swift!" Cutter cried out, realizing the danger. A flurry of swifts were fired from Bellow's maw, but the insanely fast Sam just leapt over them and slammed into Bellow, slashing at her with his scythe-like arms. Bellow never stood a chance.

Sam flew back to his trainer's side of the field and Bellow disappeared in a flash of red light. Cutter put her pokeball back into his vest pocket, pulling out Silver's in turn. He grimaced, angry that Bellow had been taken down so easily. He had been up one, with Bellow taking no damage in her first fight, but now they were even. It was up to Silver now.

"Sandstorm!" A sandstorm whipped up and encompassed the battlefield, straining the psychic barriers that kept battles restricted to the field. Even though Cutter and Bugsy were even in number of pokemon left able to battle and he had a type advantage, he knew better than to underestimate his opponent. Silver's training on detecting even the most minute movement on the earth would hardly help against Sam unless the Scyther landed. Being able to sense the earth didn't help if the opponent never touched the earth. This would be tougher than Cutter had hoped. "Rock tomb around the arena. Don't worry about trying to hit Scyther. Just make them as large as you can."

Cutter knew that Silver couldn't keep up the sandstorm forever. The sandstorm, in the long run, would end up hurting him more than it would the Scyther. Sam would continually take minor damage from the sandstorm but it would just tire Silver out even more. "Compact it!" Suddenly the sandstorm fell from covering the whole field into a dense, swirling bubble of sand, branching out ten feet in any direction from where Silver stood in the center.

Now that Cutter's sight was no longer inhibited by the blinding sands he could see that Silver had succeeded in creating the rock tombs. At least ten, ten foot tall spires of rock were sporadically jutting up from the battle plot. Scyther would have trouble building speed and flying straight, Cutter smiled to himself. Across the arena Bugsy's reaction was quite opposite his own. Whereas Cutter was smiling, Bugsy's face was hard, his mouth set into a line.

"Sam, get in close to it. Fly into the sandstorm."

"Wait for it, then launch as many rock throws as you can." Cutter's entire body tensed as Scyther buzzed above the rock tombs and sped towards the Larvitar. "Now!" Several rock throws flew from the compact sandstorm. The Scyther had to slow its assault towards Silver to dodge the flurry of rocks being launched at it. Silver was accurate with his rocks, but Scyther was quick. Bugsy's next command of "agility!" only served to increase Scyther's speed.

Cutter scowled and racked his brain. He could have Silver create more rock tombs, but Scyther could easily fly over those. His best bet was to let Scyther get in close and then hit it hard. "Drop the sandstorm, stay on guard!"

"Sam's father is my starter Scizor, so that's where this move came from! Metal claw, Sam!"

Cutter waited until the last possible second, which didn't take long considering how fast Sam was, to call out "mega punch!" Silver swung at Scyther with a mega punch, but the Scyther feinted to the side and slammed his metallic blade into Silver, sending him flying into a nearby spire of rock. For a moment Silver just laid there and Cutter was afraid that he wasn't going to get back up and that the battle was finished. Silver stirred, pushing himself to his feet, and Cutter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Larvitar's got spunk kid, but that won't stop this next metal claw from knocking it out!" Sam sped into a quick attack, readying another metal claw, this time one that would end the battle.

"Rock throw! Each side!" Silver barely had any time to prepare a rock throw before Sam was on him, slashing away. A cloud of dust had enveloped the two brawling pokemon but once it settled it appeared that the tide of the battle had turned. Silver had gotten the rocks ready and by pure, dumb luck, the Scyther had gotten its blade-like arms stuck in the rocks.

"Sam, get out of there!" The Scyther turned to flee, but the dense rocks hanging from its blade-like arms were hindering its movement.

"Rock throw!" Cutter yelled. Silver formed a large ball of rock and launched himself forward, slamming the rock throw into the back of the slowed Scyther, who unsuccessfully tried to feint out of the way. Sam was down and he didn't get back up.

"Scyther is unable to battle! Bugsy is out of any useable pokemon, so Cutter wins!" The announcer's words were like music to Cutter's ears.

"Silver! We did it!" Cutter ran to Silver on the battlefield, making sure to avoid the giant spires of rock that littered the battlefield.

"Larvitar." The small rock pokemon nuzzled his head into the chest of his trainer and growled tiredly.

"You must be tired, huh? Let's get you back to the Pokemon Center, okay? Good job buddy." Silver disappeared in a flash of red light and Cutter tucked Silver's pokeball back into his vest pocket.

"Excellent battle today. That was impressive, using the rocks to hinder Sam like that. You're definitely your father's kid. He'd be proud." Bugsy clapped one hand on Cutter's shoulder and with the other held out a small metal badge—red and black, looking like the back of a Ledyba, it glinted in the bright lights of the room. "Get some rest kid. The gym leaders only get harder from here. But come back by here before you leave Azalea. I want to talk to you."

"You got it!" Cutter turned away and headed out of the gyms battle room into the main lobby where Ken was sitting behind the desk, still in the exact same position as when Cutter had been in there before. As he walked he pulled out his badge case from his backpack and placed the Hive Badge next to the Zephyr Badge. Cutter couldn't help feeling some pride at the win. His pokemon had worked hard, and Bugsy himself had told him that his father would be proud. His father was a great trainer so that was a great compliment! As Cutter headed out of the gym and back towards the Pokemon Center, he couldn't help but smile to himself, practically giddy over the win. _One fourth of the way there. I'm one fourth of my way to the Silver Conference._

 _xx_

 **Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. Classes have been insane and I just haven't had as much time to write as I would have liked. If you have any ideas or thoughts about my story feel free to let me know!**


	4. Chapter Four

Cutter, Bellow, Silver, and Rillo stepped into the outskirts of Ilex Forest, the ground soft and yielding underneath their feet, and the sounds of the town behind them already fading away. There was the sound of the occasional pokemon and Rillo would sometimes bleat at nothing in particular, but other than that it was silent.

They had spent one more night in Azalea Town after the gym battle, Cutter and his team just relaxing and enjoying the feeling of their victory. Rillo seemed to enjoy it just as much even though she herself hadn't battled. Rillo was really starting to get the whole "team" thing, and every day she seemed to be getting along better and better with her teammates. Her fur had started to shed more though, so Cutter had checked with the Azalea Town Nurse Joy about that and about the sporadic tendencies of Bellow's glowing crescent.

Rillo was, as it turned out, about to evolve. It would still be a little while yet, but Flaaffy had considerably less wool than Mareep did, so before evolution, the wool began to fall out in order to prepare for the upcoming change. Cutter was excited. He would get to see one of his very own pokemon evolve. He had seen pokemon evolve online and on TV, but never one in person and certainly never one of his own.

He hadn't told Rillo about this. He didn't want for her to feel the pressure of an expected evolution. She was already skittish and unconfident enough, the last thing Cutter wanted was for her to have another expectation set upon her.

Bellow's glowing crescent had nothing to do with evolution, however. As it turned out, in rare instances, Teddiursa's moons could glow whenever the moon in the sky was at the same phase as the moon on the Teddiursa's head. The nurse also said that it could, and this was purely mild speculation made by a few scientists, hint at the Teddiursa lending itself slightly to the dark typing. While it would never have the dark type, it was able to learn dark type moves more easily and could learn dark type moves that other Teddiursa might not necessarily be able to learn. And that got Cutter excited. He could only imagine what Bellow would be able to do with not only her speed but also her additional dark type abilities.

"Maa," Rillo bleated, stopping in her tracks. Cutter's head had begun to hurt a while back but when he looked up at the large clearing ahead his headache intensified tenfold. Right before Cutter blacked out he caught a glimpse of a small wooden shrine in the middle of the clearing, standing regally despite its small size.

Cutter opened his eyes to the dim forest lighting. Where was he? He couldn't remember much. He had been walking in Ilex Forest. There had been… what? A shrine? That was it. There had been a shrine. And a headache. And he had passed out. Cutter groaned when the memory of passing out hit him, along with the pain of the headache that didn't seem to have gone away. This was the second time in his journey so far. What if someone would have robbed him? He couldn't defend himself while he was passed out.

Cutter freaked out. He hadn't even checked his backpack or pokeballs to see if anything had been taken. He sat up, frantically pulling his backpack off of his back, yanking the zipper open. Everything seemed to be in place. He put his hands to his waist, and all three pokeballs were there. But… hadn't Rillo been out with him when he had fallen? Cutter's fear began anew when this new revelation hit him. He stood up, about to shout her name when from behind him came a quiet, "Laa."

He spun around to see the pokemon behind him. What he saw was the last thing he was expecting. First he noticed Rillo. But no longer was Rillo a Mareep. She was now pink and bipedal, with blue far around her neck and on top of her head. She was a Flaaffy. "Rillo, you evolved!" Cutter was beyond excited, but for some reason there was just a tinge of disappointment that Cutter felt in his chest. He had wanted to see his pokemon evolve, but he had missed it. All because of a stupid headache.

The next thing Cutter noticed was a Girafarig, and a very old one at that. It was quite large, at least two to three feet larger than Cutter was. Cutter knew that most Girafarig only got to be about five feet tall, but this one defied that in every way. It was quite muscular as well, even in its old age. The yellow in the front of its coat and the brown near its hind end were a faded shade of what they used to be. Even its second head, which was usually aggressive and loud, drooped slightly.

Then, hidden slightly behind the wizened Girafarig was what appeared to be another Girafarig. But this Girafarig was not like any Girafarig he had ever seen before. Most Girafarig had white on their forehead, a yellow front half and brown back half, with pink tufts of fur poking out from their backs, and deep brown eyes. But this Girafarig was different. Where the white of the forehead normally ended, it extended, covering its whole body. And where the brown eyes of a Girafarig were, this one's eyes were red. "Albino," Cutter whispered, not even aware he had spoken the thoughts out loud. His headache was still there, but he was in so much awe that he no longer even registered the pain.

 _Yes. That is what you humans call it._ A voice in Cutter's head. He looked around, startled. _It is I, Praagh, the Girafarig in front of you._ "I-," Cutter began, before the voice in his head cut him off again. _Let me speak._ Cutter stayed silent. _I am Praagh, the older Girafarig. Behind me is Nostradamus. He is what you humans call_ albino. A special emphasis was put on the word 'albino' as if Praagh did not enjoy saying, or telepathizing, it. _Regardless of what Nostradamus is, he is in danger. He is not of the usual coloration that the Girafarig species are. Many humans are after him. The ones who are after him, I can feel what they feel. Anger. Greed. These_ feelings _as you humans call them, are not good. I have been able to protect Nostradamus up until this point. But I am old and will pass on soon enough. Nostradamus and I have decided that you will be the one to watch him._ There was silence in Cutter's mind. _You may speak now._

Cutter had so many things to say, but didn't know how to say them all, so he began to blurt things out, "Why me? And how do you know it should be me? And who is after him? And-." Cutter was cut off once again by the soothing telepathic voice of Praagh.

 _We have been following you for quite some time. I am afraid that Nostradamus was the one causing the headaches. He is quite young and does not have as much control over his psychic abilities as others of our species do. Not to worry about that, though. As you may know, species that have the_ albino _gene_ , there was that word again, _have limited eyesight. That just enhances the being's other senses. In the case of Girafarig, and other, less-important psychic pokemon, their psychic ability is heightened considerably. As well as the heightened psychic ability, Nostradamus comes from my line of Girafarig, so he will grow to be just as large as me._

Cutter sat there, trying to process everything he had learned in the last several minutes. _If you have nothing to say, I will continue. The most important thing here, however, is that Nostradamus imprinted on you some time ago. I believe that was the first time you_ passed couldn't tell a lot of emotion from the monotone telepathic voice, but he could have sworn that the old Girafarig, Praagh, had been laughing at him. _This imprinting was a large part of the headaches. And I can feel what you feel. You have a good heart. You care for your pokemon. I was speaking to the Flaaffy and she was very complimentary of you. As well as that, we, or rather I, saw you save her in that thunderstorm. That didn't matter too much, because at that point Nostradamus had already imprinted on you. But it was soothing to me to know that he would be going to someone who was willing to risk so much. Especially for a pokemon that may not join him in his travels. You may not know it yet, but you will be a very powerful trainer. You will be able to care for Nostradamus as many other trainers could not. Lastly, as I already said, it is what you humans call_ poachers _that are after Nostradamus. Money means nothing to us, but I recognize how much it means to certain humans._ There was another long pause as Cutter tried to take all of this information in. He had been imprinted on? That was crazy to Cutter, and it seemed that Praagh picked up on how Cutter was feeling. _I understand this might be difficult for you to process. I wanted to wait a little while longer before approaching you, but the time was now. If we would have waited, things would have not gone well for Nostradamus, or for me I am afraid._

"Wait, what do you mean 'things wouldn't have gone well'?" Cutter questioned, finally able to speak again. He figured that Girafarig, being psychic type, could use the move Future Sight. Future Sight was generally only used as a set-up attack. The pokemon would use Future Sight, battle for a while longer, and then later on in the battle, the Future Sight would strike, seemingly out of nowhere. But Cutter had heard of particularly powerful psychic types that were able to bend the Future Sight into more of a future telling technique than an actual attack. And considering how strong the Girafarig in front of him appeared to be, he had no doubt that Praagh could bend the Future Sight to not only deal damage, but to see glimpses of the future as well. Of course, seeing the future was a dangerous gamble, considering how things could often change, but nonetheless, it offered an insight into what might be.

 _I am not able to elaborate further. Along with poachers, other pokemon will be after him. His white coloration offers no form of camouflage. And once I pass away, he will still not be old enough to hold his own against more dangerous predators. Moving on, you need to be through this forest in the next three days, and to the next city, Goldenrod I believe it is, in five._ There was another moment of silence and Cutter once again tried to think of something to say, but turns out he didn't need to. It seemed as if Praagh and Nostradamus had been communicating telepathically. Nostradamus bowed his head and trotted up to Cutter gingerly. _Nostradamus will not be able to speak with you verbally for some time. He is still quite young. But he can transfer feelings and he can feel what you feel._ Cutter looked down at the small Long Neck pokemon in front of him. He knelt down onto one knee and looked Nostradamus in the eyes. A flood of warm relief flooded Cutter, but he couldn't understand where it came from. _Nostradamus._ The single word telepathically communicated answered Cutter's question. He was feeling what Nostradamus was feeling. _You two will become close to one being. Also, now that Nostradamus is no longer desiring you, the headaches should clear up._ Cutter smiled up at the Girafarig in front of him before immediately looking back towards Nostradamus. He wasn't able to tell how well Nostradamus could see him, but he was counting on his psychic abilities to help him out. Cutter reached his hand out and waited for Nostradamus to lean in and nuzzle his hand. He was surprised by how soft the Girafarig's snout was, and the warm breath that Nostradamus exhaled tickled.

Before Cutter knew it, Nostradamus had stepped forward, wrapping his long neck around Cutter's shoulder and down his back in what Cutter assumed to be the Girafarig equivalent of a hug. Cutter wrapped his arms around the base of Nostradamus' neck and embraced him back. Joy fluttered in Cutter's chest, and it wasn't just Nostradamus' joy; it was his joy as well. When Cutter looked back up, Praagh was gone, and Flaaffy was standing alone just a few feet away. He was left with a simple telepathic "thank you." And that was the last bit of Praagh that Cutter had, along with his warning to be in Goldenrod in five days.

"Nostradamus, I'm going to catch you now, okay? With a pokeball." Cutter took a little extra time to pull a special pokeball from his backpack. A premier ball. It was a pure white pokeball made in the Hoenn region to commemorate some sort of event. Cutter was given one for free when he had restocked on pokeballs and potions in Azalea Town. It seemed only fitting. A pure white pokeball for a pure white pokemon.

He held up the ball to show Nostradamus what he was doing. "All of my partners have a pokeball that they go into when they aren't out here with me. Is that okay?" Apprehension tightened around Cutter's midsection and before he knew it he was embracing the Long Neck pokemon again, whispering soothing words into his neck. "It's okay Nos. You don't have to worry. Flaaffy has a pokeball too. It keeps them safe and gives them a place to sleep. I promise." The anxiety that had gripped Cutter slowly faded away, but he noted that it wasn't completely gone, and Cutter didn't blame Nostradamus. He didn't know how he would feel about being kept in a small red and white ball either.

But Nostradamus was brave. He had no reason not to be. He was descended from and had been protected by the largest and probably most powerful Girafarig Cutter had ever seen. How Praagh had gotten to be so large in the wild, he had no idea. Genetics, he supposed.

Nostradamus stepped forward and tapped his white snout to the premier ball, and was sucked into the ball in a flash of light. The ball didn't even shake. Nostradamus had not resisted the capture one bit. Cutter fully intended to let Nostradamus out of the pokeball as soon as possible, but first he wanted to speak with his newly evolved Flaaffy.

"Rillo! You evolved! That is incredible!" Cutter clipped Nostradamus' premier ball onto his waist and scooped the newly evolved Flaaffy into his arms. She was heavier than she had been as a Mareep. Rillo gave him a playful shock and licked his face lovingly. "Laaa!"

"How about I check you out on the Pokedex?" Rillo nodded, licking her loving trainer's face again. He pulled out his Pokedex, and scanned Flaaffy. He had recently turned off the voice function, he just found it annoying, and read up on her. "Well, you learned some new moves! Charge beam and cotton spore. Do you feel any different? I mean, you weren't much for battling pre-evolution, but do you think you would want to try it out?"

The wool pokemon sat there in her trainer's arms for a second, debating. Finally she nodded. "Alright, girl! Don't you worry. We'll start you off with some easy wild pokemon. There are plenty here in Ilex Forest. Then we'll work up to harder challenges." Cutter was proud of his Flaaffy already. When she was a Mareep she would barely use any moves at all, and she certainly wouldn't enter a real battle. Cutter knew he would have to take it slow with her to build up her confidence, but he knew that in no time she would be an excellent battler.

"I'm going to let out Nostradamus for a minute. I want it to be just me and him. Do you mind going back into your pokeball? I'll let all of you out soon, I promise." Rillonodded and soon she too was sucked into her pokeball.

Shortly after Rillo disappeared, Nostradamus reappeared. "I'm going to scan you with the Pokedex so that I can get some basic information on you, okay?" Cutter scanned Nostradamus and the screen of the Pokedex filled with useful information.

 _Girafarig. The Long Neck Pokemon. This Girafarig is a male._ _Girafarig's rear head contains a tiny brain that is too small for thinking. However, the rear head doesn't need to sleep, so it can keep watch over its surroundings 24 hours a day. It knows the moves Confusion, Stomp, Agility, Zen Headbutt, Crunch, Hypnosis, Dazzling Gleam, and Nasty Plot. Its ability is Early Bird which allows the pokemon to awake early from sleep induced by moves such as Hypnosis and Spore. This Girafarig is three to four months old._

Cutter was at a loss for words. He read and reread the Pokedex entry to make sure he had it right. Nostradamus had some powerful moves. And he was only three months old. It seemed that Praagh had passed down some powerful moves and genes to Nostradamus. Cutter highly doubted that Nostradamus could even use these moves yet, but the potential to use them was right there. He just had to train him up well and Nostradamus would be just as, no, more powerful than even Praagh. Praagh had gotten to be an incredible Girafarig by himself. Nostradamus had Cutter. He was going to help Nostradamus get stronger than he ever could in the wild.

Two and a half days later, Cutter, Nostradamus, and Rillo were walking through the dimly lit main path of Ilex Forest. The forest had proven to be excellent training grounds for the two weaker members of Cutter's team. Rillo was evolved and therefore had an advantage over the Hoothoot, Oddish, and various other bug type pokemon that made their home in Ilex Forest. Nostradamus, or Nos, as Cutter had begun calling him, had the natural type advantage over Oddish and Weedle. They had progressed nicely.

In the beginning, Rillo had been a little apprehensive about battling, but Cutter did an excellent job encouraging her and helping her do her best. After she took down her first Hoothoot, Cutter had nothing to worry about. Sometimes he even had to stop her from battling pokemon, specifically one very angry Gloom they had stumbled upon. Cutter let Bellow take care of that one.

Nostradamus was holding his own quite well as well. With his natural type advantage and excellent genes, Nos had quickly mastered confusion, and stomp was as simple as could be. Try as he might, Cutter simply could not get Nos to use any other moves. Cutter reasoned that it was Nos's young age, and soon enough the Long Neck pokemon would be using zen headbutt and nasty plot without any hindrance.

The rest of the team took Nostradamus' arrival quite well. Bellow and Silver quickly took to Nos, but it was Rillo and Nos that were inseparable.

It was just a few hours and a few fainted Weedle later that Cutter and Nos spied the end of the blanket of trees and what seemed to open up into a large clearing. "Let's go!" And with that, Cutter and Nos took off running towards the clearing.

"Hey! You!" Cutter and Nos skidded to a halt, looking around for the voice that had called out to him. Turning, he caught sight of a boy about his age and height with bright blond hair jogging towards him. "Do you wanna-," but the boy stopped talking when he saw who it was he was about to challenge to a battle.

"Cutter!"

"Terrance!"

Cutter turned around and faced Terrance, who was tossing a pokeball up and down in his hand, the bright green grass right outside of Ilex Forest was all that separated the two boys. Cutter had just finished explaining to Terrance about Nostradamus and his situation. The whole time, Nostradamus had gone through many different emotions, most of them near elation, and as a result, so did Cutter. And while Cutter was excited himself about his newest team member, having Nostradamus's emotion transferred to him while telling the tale just got Cutter even more eager about his new partner.

"Three on three?" Terrance shouted.

"You got it. You're going down," Cutter called back.

"I'll choose first. I've got a lot of new pokemon to try out!" Terrance chose a pokemon Cutter knew Terrance hadn't had before—Marill. The round blue and white pokemon appeared on the field. _So one of your new pokemon,_ Cutter thought to himself. _Well Terrance doesn't know that I've got an electric type now! Plus, Rillo isn't that strong so this is probably more of an even matchup than he might expect._

"Rillo!" Cutter tossed the Wool pokemon's pokeball, Rillo erupted in a flash of light. Upon her arrival, she "laa'ed," looking back at her trainer. "Don't worry girl! You've got this. It's just like battling the pokemon in the forest." Cutter didn't know if he could trust his own words. He really didn't know Terrance all that well, but from what he did know, his Elekid was strong, strong enough to hold its own against a Larvitar at least.

"Marill, water gun!" The small blue pokemon blasted a stream of water at Rillo, which she easily dodged. The water gun was, well, weak. There was no other way to put it. Rillo, who wasn't the fastest pokemon around by a long shot, got out of the way of the water gun well before it was even near her.

"Charge Beam!" Cutter called back. Charge Beam was an attack that occasionally replenished, or charged, hence the name, the attacking pokemon's electrical reserves, as opposed to draining them like most electrical moves. Upon her trainer's command, Rillo whipped her tail around and from it came a small but concentrated beam of electricity that hit its target dead on. The Marill had no time to evade the attack from Cutter's newly evolved pokemon.  
The Marill stumbled, looking disoriented. Marill's trainer was shouting for her to" remain standing!" and "keep fighting," but what he wasn't doing was ordering any attacks, so Cutter decided to capitalize.

Rillo still hadn't used many moves, but Cutter figured that this weak Marill was the perfect opponent to try them out on. "Electric terrain!" Cutter and Rillo had tried it a couple of times, and Rillo had begun to get the hang of it. Kind of. Sparks would generally fly up out of the ground around the area, but it never lasted. This time was no different.

"That's okay Rillo! Try another charge beam, but get in close this time." Rillo, who was usually bipedal, crouched to all fours and ran towards the now-recovered Marill.

"Marill, water gun again!" Terrance was starting to panic now and Cutter could tell. It was time to capitalize. As soon as Rillo weaved around the lazy water gun, she fired a fully powered charge beam at the unsuspecting Marill, who was knocked out immediately by the electric attack.

Cutter had been working on the running charge beam during their time in Ilex Forest. He found that as Flaaffy ran, electricity would build up in her wool more quickly than if she stayed still. So using charge beam, which naturally charged Rillo's electrical reserves anyways, while running, which built up electricity in her fur, Rillo was able to use a much stronger charge beam than if she was just staying still.

Terrance returned his Marill, then choosing yet another pokemon Cutter didn't know Terrance had. A Hoppip. The round pink pokemon floating in the air using its green leaf-wings was part grass and part flying. Cutter questioned Terrance's choice in the matchup. Grass was resistant to electric attacks, but flying was not. Quite the opposite, actually. Electric type attacks were very, very effective against flying types. Cutter just shrugged and figured he had some sort of strategy.

Terrance had been catching a lot of pokemon since they had last seen each other. He glanced up at the opposing trainer, Terrance's trademark smile still plastered across his face, even with him being down a pokemon.

"Hoppip, tackle!" But Hoppip barely moved, instead deciding to yawn. Cutter frowned. From what he remembered, Hoppip were only able to move while in the sky by utilizing the wind. But there was no wind stirring the field on which they were battling. Hoppip could easy float to the ground below, but its pink legs were short, stubby, and not designed for running.

"Rillo, try to take this one by yourself. Use what attacks you think are best. But try to stay back, it can't move too well." Flaaffy, while not too experienced in battle, had the same innate battle instincts ingrained into it that most pokemon had. Upon her trainer's instruction, she backed away slightly and began to build up a charge beam in her tail. As it turned out, Flaaffy didn't need much instruction. One charge beam the cottonweed pokemon to faint, and it drifted slowly to the ground.

"One left! I was going to use my Geodude, but I've decided that Elekid is the only pokemon for the job." His smile was faltering now. He was down two pokemon, both having lost to one of Cutter's weaker pokemon.

In a flash, Terrance's Elekid appeared on the field. The Elekid was much larger than Cutter remembered him being and he was crackling with electricity. Cutter guessed he was nearing evolution, because Elekid were baby pokemon and it didn't take them long to evolve. Elekid may have even been past the natural point of evolution, but Cutter didn't have enough base knowledge on the Electivire line to begin with.

"Brick break!" the other boy called, jolting Cutter from his thoughts. Terrance now looked grim and determined, his previous smile long gone. The Elekid closed in on Rillo with surprising speed, wind milling its arms while running to build up even more electricity, emitting a low-pitched "whirr."

"Out of the way!" Cutter called, nervous for the first time in the battle. Rillo leapt out of the way, but the Elekid turned quickly and was back chasing Rillo. It quickly turned into a game of Meowth and Pikachu. Elekid, unlike Terrance's Hoppip and Marill, was obviously very strong. "Charge beam while you run!" If it were any of his other pokemon, Cutter would be worried about them tiring out, but seeing as how Rillo naturally gained energy from electricity, and she could generate electricity simply by moving, he wasn't too concerned. But on the other hand,

Elekid generated electricity the same way, and far more quickly if the Elekid's increasing pace was anything to go by.

Rillo stopped and let loose a charge beam straight into the face of the opposing Elekid. Which seemingly did nothing before Elekid crashed into the opposing Flaaffy with a powerful brick break. Rillo was sent flying and Cutter cursed himself for being so dumb. Motor Drive was Elekid's ability. Motor Drive allowed the pokemon to absorb electrical attacks, which then in turn increased the pokemon's speed.

Cutter winced as Rillo hit the ground, but he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when she pushed herself back up. She may be losing this fight, but she sure had come a long way since he had rescued her in that storm. Cutter ran through his options in his mind. The only damaging attack she had that wasn't an electric type attack was tackle. They would have to broaden that. He couldn't leave Rillo so defenseless against electric types like this. Not when there were other electric types like Elekid and Magnemite out there. On the other hand, he could try a cotton spore, which hindered the opponent's movements, thus making them slower. But even then Rillo would have to get in close in order to attack, and no matter how slow the Elekid was, if Rillo got within striking distance, there was no doubt that the Elekid would hit with a brick break.

"Rillo, I'm going to return you." Cutter held up her pokeball, ready to call her back, but she shook her head. She wanted to go down fighting, and Cutter could respect that. Pride welled up in Cutter's chest. She may still be timid, but she was fiercely loyal to her trainer. She loved him and was going to prove to him that she would not give up.

"Keep your distance for now, then when Elekid gets closer, use cotton spore, then run away again." That went on for some time. The Elekid would get several feet away, Rillo would use shake her wool out using cotton spore, then run. And then it happened again and again and again. Soon the Elekid could hardly do more than walk.

"Thunderbolt on the ground in front of you Elekid!" Cutter cocked his head at the boy's command, curious as to what he had in mind. He soon found out. The blast of thunderbolt sprayed dirt and grass back at Elekid with enough force to remove much of Rillo's wool. "Now, running thunderbolt on the Flaaffy!"

It was obvious that Elekid had regained much of its mobility because it was faster than Flaaffy once again. This time, Rillo wasn't able to do much running because it was busy evading the continuous thunderbolt that Elekid was firing at it. In no time Elekid landed a brick break straight to Flaaffy's head, knocking her out.

Normally Cutter would simply return her, but she had taken out two trained, albeit badly trained, pokemon on her own. He would go to her. So Cutter jogged to her, stroked the wool on her head, whispered a soothing "good job Rillo," and returned her. Cutter put her ball back on his belt and debated on who to send out next. On one hand, even though Elekid was strong, Silver or Bellow could easily take it out. Especially Bellow who had a natural type advantage. But on the other hand, Nostradamus needed the experience.

Shrugging, Cutter figured it couldn't hurt to choose Nostradamus. It was his first trainer battle, but he needed something to challenge him more than the Weedle in the forest did.

"Nos, you're up." The pure white long neck pokemon looked at him, and as their eyes met Cutter felt a mix of nervousness and joy overtake him. He wasn't quite used to feeling emotions that weren't his own. Sometimes Nostradamus's feelings and his own got lost in each other and he didn't know which were his and which were his pokemon's. He didn't know how to fix that either, not on his own at least. He figured he could speak to a psychic, but he had no idea where to find one.

Nostradamus trotted out onto the field opposite Elekid, the long neck pokemon's second head staring back at Cutter. "Confusion!" Cutter called out, wasting no time.

A concentration of pink and purple psychic waves appeared between Nostradamus' horns, floating there slightly before they were released. The weak psychic waves shimmered and flowed out from between Nostradamus' horns at the opposing Elekid and creating a pretty image, but ultimately stopped short before dying down completely. _Damn. We haven't worked on distance with Nos yet. He's only had to deal with pokemon that were close by. Hmm._

"Thunder punch!" The Elekid wind milled his arms again, running at Nostradamus.

"Stomp when he gets close!"

Elekid was nearing Nostradamus and as soon as Nos went up onto his back legs to stomp down, Terrance called out "Slide!" Elekid slid down underneath Nostradamus, barely avoiding being stomped on by hooves harder than diamonds. Elekid then delivered a devastating thunder punch to the exposed underbelly of the long neck pokemon.

"Raaa," Nostradamus screeched and went down on his front knees. Cutter doubled over in pain, his head erupting in a massive headache. He didn't realize that he would be able to feel the pain of Nostradamus as well.

"Are you okay?" Terrance called from across the field.

Cutter straightened back up, determined to show no more weakness than he already had, even though his head felt as though it might explode at any second. "Yeah, I'm fine." Cutter swallowed a few breaths hastily and regained his senses before calling out his next order at the same time as Terrance.

"Stomp!"

"Brick break!"

Cutter was afraid he knew how this would turn out, but nevertheless he hoped for the best. Stomp was a normal type move and brick break a fighting type. Fighting types were naturally super effective against normal types. But Nostradamus did something unexpected. A ripple of psychic energy erupted from his horns, coating his entire head. As Elekid jumped up to deliver a brick break to Nostradamus's head, Nostradamus lurched forward, meeting Elekid in the middle. The zen headbutt rendered the brick break practically useless and the Elekid flew backwards and landing hard.

"Yes! Nostradamus that was zen headbutt! Do it again!" Once again, a small coating of psychic energy coated Nostradamus's head as he ran forward and prepared to headbutt Elekid again.

The opposing Elekid feinted out of the way, and smashing into the side of the long neck pokemon with a super charged thunder punch. But still, Nostradamus wasn't out. Cutter could feel the pain that Nostradamus was feeling, but the fact that Cutter could still feel the pain meant that Nostradamus wasn't out. And for that, even through the pain, Cutter was grateful.

"Confusion again!" Nostradamus pushed his way to his feet, fighting the pain, preparing a new wave of psychic energy to throw at the Elekid. Now that they were in much closer range, confusion was effective. It hit Elekid straight on, causing it to fall again. Cutter was grateful he had a psychic type. Generally psychic types were pokemon that were handled by much more experienced trainers. Terrance had likely never dealt with a psychic type before.

But Terrance was resilient and his Elekid was too. "Thunderbolt!" The bolt of electricity that flew from between Elekid's prongs was more powerful than any electric attack that had been used thus far in the battle. It hit Nostradamus in the neck before the volts of electricity flowed through his body. Suddenly, the thunderbolt stopped and Cutter saw that Elekid had fainted. No sooner did he have time to register that before his whole body went slack and he dropped to his knees. Nostradamus had fainted as well, and Cutter had gone through that. Cutter himself didn't faint, but Nostradamus did. This was the first time in close to a month that Cutter was feeling nothing but his own feelings. Ever since Nostradamus had first imprinted on him over a month ago, he had been feeling whatever Nostradamus had been feeling. But now, Nostradamus was unconscious and Cutter was left alone with himself. He didn't know how to feel. He almost felt as if a piece of him was missing. He fumbled at his waist band and pulled out Nostradamus' pokeball. Everything was hazy and he was having trouble seeing. He returned Nostradamus before releasing him right in front of him.

Cutter pulled his backpack off of his back, searching through it, trying to find a revive. He didn't know what he was doing. He could barely see. But then. There. He felt the small golden diamond shaped revive in his hand. He reached out, his sight fully gone at this point, and his hearing seemed to be going as well, and felt for Nostradamus' snout. He found it, cracked open the revive and poured it in. Cutter lurched forward, some sort of energy flowing through him. As his sight returned so did his hearing. He saw Nostradamus begin to stir before him. The long neck pokemon rolled onto his knees, looking at his trainer. Cutter felt disappointment settle in the pit of his stomach.

"Nos. You did your best. You won the battle for me. His Elekid fainted right before you." Cutter reached out and stroked Nostradamus on the neck, allowing Nostradamus to lick his cheek, the disappointment evaporating, being replaced by a sort of cheerfulness. "But I'm going to return you now, okay?" Nostradamus nodded and disappeared in a flash of light.

"You okay?" Terrance asked, helping to pull Cutter to his feet.

"Yeah I'm fine," Cutter replied as he released Flaaffy, giving her a revive as well. "It's the imprinting. I told you about how Nos transfers his feelings to me. Well, turns out that I also get his pain as well. Which isn't good. Nostradamus isn't going to win every battle, and I can't collapse every time he faints. But I don't know who to talk to."

"You'll figure it out. You're getting to be strong! I just caught Marill and Hoppip in the forest and wanted to test them out! That's the only reason you beat me," the other boy said with a wink. "Whaddya say we head to Goldenrod together?"

"I think that's a great idea," Cutter smiled, clapping his friend on the back as they walked towards the city.

Over the next day and a half, Cutter and Terrance had both battled many more trainers. Cutter won all of his, coming close to a loss three times out of his six battles. Once when Silver barely defeated another trainer's Wooper. The type advantage the Wooper had had almost proven to be too much. Another time was when Nostradamus had been battling a Bellsprout. The Bellsprout had prevented Nostradamus from moving with its vines, but out of nowhere Nostradamus used his strongest confusion yet that managed to knock out the Bellsprout. The last time was when a Gastly hit Rillo with a confuse ray. Rillo spun around for a while, hurting herself before finally snapping out of it and using the built up electricity to launch a charge beam at the unsuspecting Gastly.

Terrance also won all of his battles, but he used Elekid in every single one. He never used his Marill, Hoppip, Zubat, or Spinarak, or, as Cutter learned he had, his Hoothoot. How Terrance already had six pokemon he had no idea. But now he knew why the other trainer's pokemon were so weak. Terrance only used Elekid. Cutter thought about bringing it up to him, but decided against it. He didn't really know Terrance that well, and they both had the same number of badges. Who was he to tell Terrance how to battle?

According to Cutter's Pokedex, Goldenrod was only another mile away. But there was a certain Day Care that he wanted to stop by before making his way into the largest city in Johto.

Terrance had gone on ahead to get them both rooms at one of the many Pokemon Centers in Goldenrod. Cutter just explained that he had gotten his Larvitar from this daycare and had promised the lady who ran it that he would stop by.

As Cutter walked, he saw a large cottage begin to appear. In front of it was an older man playing with a Meowth. Off to the left was a large pond, and on the right, it was flanked by trees. As he got closer, the old man noticed him and got up, making his way towards Cutter.

"What can I do for you?" the older man asked Cutter, extending his hand. Cutter took it and shook hands with the older man.

"My name is Cutter Robinson. I received my starter pokemon from this Day Care. I promised the lady who ran it that I would stop by and show my starter to her whenever I was in the area." Cutter beamed and released Silver, who rubbed Cutter's thigh with the long brown horn that protruded from the top of his head. Silver had to bend down to rub Cutter's thigh, seeing as how the rock skin pokemon was now as tall as Cutter's waist. He had grown considerably since he had hatched and he definitely weighed a lot more now than he did. No longer could Cutter pick up the pokemon he raised from hatching.

"Ahh. You're the young man with the Larvitar. Of course, Grace will be pleased to see you. Just follow me" Cutter and the older man, whose name he found to be Charlie, visited as they walked around the house to where Grace was.

"Charlie, who is that?" A stern voice carried from behind the house.

"His name is Kyler, dear. You gave him a Larvitar."

"C-," Cutter began, before he was cut off.

"Kyler? I didn't give any Kyler a Larvitar. I gave Kyler a Phanpy. Are you sure it isn't a Phanpy?"

"I'm looking right at it Grace. It's obviously a Larvitar."

"My name isn't Kyler. It's Cutter."

"Cutter. The boy's name is Cutter. Not Kyler." They were behind the house at this point, and Cutter could see Grace, but still Charlie was shouting.

"Shut up, Charlie. I'm right here," Grace playfully smacked Charlie's chest. Cutter smiled. The two very obviously loved and cared for each other. This woman was smiling and happy, not the same demeanor of the woman who delivered his pokemon at all. "Hello there, dear. How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?" Cutter replied.

"Oh, I was speaking to your Larvitar," Grace retorted, not even turning from Silver when she spoke to him. Cutter just nodded and smiled slightly, more out of embarrassment than joy.

The next few minutes consisted of Grace looking at Silver and poking and prodding, gently of course. She would rub various parts of him, one time his horn, another his scaly red belly, then another right around the indents that led to where his dark type organs would eventually be.

"Excellent health," she said, standing back up.

"Oh, are you talking to me this time?" Cutter smiled, pleased at his joke. Grace, however, was not as amused. "Sorry. Thank you."

"Did you name him?"

"Silver! His name is Silver."

"Fitting, of course. Both of his parents' hail from Mt. Silver," Charlie chimed in, smiling.

"He's nearing evolution. One month, two maximum and he should be evolved. Generally, I don't tell trainers when their pokemon is close to evolving, but considering Larvitar will be entering the pupal stage, I thought you ought to know. As he gets closer to evolution, about a week before, he will begin to move less and less. His appetite will increase drastically and he won't want to battle. Don't worry this is normal," she said in reply to the nervous look that crossed Cutter's face. "Do not make him battle. It is imperative that as the week before evolution winds down, he is not too active. He has to retain enough energy to enter the pupal stage. But you seem like a kind trainer. You have nothing to fear."

Cutter grinned and leaned down to his starter's level. "You're going to evolve soon! Soon you'll be a Pupitar. Isn't that exciting?"

"Lar, Larvitar!" His starter grunted cheerfully. Cutter leaned his forehead forward and Silver pressed his horn to his trainer's head. When Cutter stood back up he found that Grace and Charlie were both smiling.

"It is obvious that Silver trusts you greatly. Thank you for taking such good care of him. He has the potential to be a powerful pokemon and it is reassuring to know that his power is in good hands."

"Thank you ma'am," Cutter bowed his head in respect to the wise pokemon breeder. "I do have a question about one of my other pokemon though, and I was wondering if you would be able to assist me."

"What is it?"

"Do you know much about pokemon imprinting on humans?"

Grace's brow furrowed in thought and she paused before answering. "To some degree. Little is known in general about pokemon imprinting on humans. I could tell you a considerable amount if it were a baby pokemon. But if it isn't, the best I could do is see the pokemon and try to judge from that."

"May I show you my Girafarig?"

"Ahh. A psychic type. You may show me, but I won't be able to tell you much."

Cutter frowned as he released Nostradamus. That hadn't been the answer he was looking for.

Both breeder's eyes widened in awe at the sight of the pure white Girafarig, and it was a moment before either of them were able to speak again. When they were able, it was Charlie who spoke first. "He's beautiful." A pause. "Where did you get him?"

"He imprinted on me over a month ago, but he and his… grandfather? Or I think it was his grandfather, approached me in Ilex Forest four days ago. The older Girafarig told me that he wanted to wait longer before approaching me, but that it was too dangerous for them to wait. He said that there were bad people out there that wanted to get their hands on Nostradamus."

"Hm. Did you choose the name Nostradamus or was that Girafarig's given name?" This time it was Grace speaking.

"Nostradamus is his given name." Cutter had been absentmindedly stroking his Girafarig's neck the whole time.

"Was the older Girafarig named Praagh, by any chance?"

This time it was Cutter's eyes to widen in shock. "How'd you know that?"

"The fact that there was an older Girafarig with a younger one is surprising in itself. Girafarig tend to live alone. Praagh is a very, very old Girafarig that was rumored to have lived in southern Johto for quite some time. I had only heard legends of it. But he is considered the "King of Girafarig" and it makes sense that he was protecting his lineage. The fact that he entrusted Nostradamus to you is incredible. You are very lucky. But also, you must take great care of Nostradamus. Like Praagh said, bad people would do anything to get their hands on a Girafarig that has the blood of Praagh in it. It is impressive in and of its own that Nostradamus is pure white in coloration, but the fact that Nostradamus is also a descendant, and a near one at that, of Praagh, only makes the bounty on his head that much more valuable. For now, until you are stronger, I would recommend keeping Nostradamus under the radar."

Cutter was silent. Then, after some time, "thank you. I will do my whatever it takes to protect Nostradamus."

"About the imprinting, there is not much I can tell you. Especially since it is a psychic type." Cutter frowned but she continued, "In Goldenrod there is a train station that goes to Saffron City in Kanto. I recommend going there. Find Sabrina. It shouldn't be too difficult seeing as she is the gym leader of Saffron. I will send word to Sabrina that you will be there within the next couple of weeks. Sabrina's focus is psychic type pokemon and she is a psychic as well. She will be able to help you far more than I ever could."

Once again all Cutter was able to say was "thank you," to which Grace replied, "no Mr. Robinson, thank you. You obviously care for your pokemon and it makes old folks like us very happy. It reassures us that there is still hope. Thank you. And because of that, we would like to make you an offer." Cutter's ears perked up at the word "offer." He wasn't a poor trainer by any means. He won most of his battles. But he wasn't a rich trainer either. He had just started out two months ago, after all. "Charlie and I know that sometimes trainers have trouble finding a place to store pokemon once they get more than six. Now, we rarely do this, but once you get more than six pokemon, would you like to keep them here, at G&C Ranch? You wouldn't have to worry about the safety of your pokemon. Both Charlie and I have strong pokemon from back in our heyday that help keep the Ranch and the pokemon here safe. We have only ever extended this offer to one other trainer. Feel free to think about it, but just know that you will have a hard time finding a place with people as caring as us that will be willing to keep your pokemon for free."

"I don't need to think about it!" Cutter smiled. "I accept. I mean, right now I only have four pokemon, but once I get more than six, I would love to accept your offer. Thank you thank you."

"Don't mention it. It's the least we could do for a trainer such as yourself." Charlie handed Cutter a small business card that said "G&C Ranch" at the top, and at the bottom a phone number was listed. "The phone number is one that you can dial from a pokemon center to transfer your pokemon to us. Think of it like a fax number, but for pokemon."

"Thank you again. So much." Cutter shook their hands one last time, and was soon on his way from G&C Ranch to Goldenrod.

xx

 **Hey guys! Sorry for the super long wait time. School has been stressful and yada yada. I know that's not the best excuse, but trying to balance college and a job and finding time to write is stressful. I wrote and rewrote this chapter so many times. I hope you guys are all happy with it! Leave me a review or PM me, I'm always more than happy to talk about this with you all! Also, this used to be two separate chapters, 4 and 5, but I combined them! They both seemed too short and incomplete on their own. Thanks!**


	5. The Tournament, part 1

Cutter stepped into the gates that signified the city limits of Goldenrod, but even before seeing the gates, Cutter could see the skyscrapers jutting out over the treetops in the distance from some ways away. Goldenrod was easily the largest city in Johto with a population of close to 600,000. No other town came close. The next largest was Olivine, and with a population of only about 70,000, it didn't even compare. Plus, most of Olivine's bustle was from tourists. Olivine was the main tourist city in Johto. With sandy white beaches, the Battle Frontier, and the Lighthouse Battle Challenge, people flocked like Spearow from all over the world to vacation there.

Goldenrod was huge, which was nice, but it created a small problem for Cutter. He had no idea how to find Terrance. Terrance had gone on while Cutter went to speak with Grace and Charlie. They had agreed to meet at a Pokemon Center in Goldenrod, but due to the town's size and population, there were six Pokemon Center's there. Cutter frowned as he racked his brain on how to find Terrance. There was no way he could visit each individual Pokemon Center. For starters, he didn't know where they all were. Plus, trying to find them all could take hours. For now, he would just walk until he saw one and hope that was the one.

As Cutter walked through the streets, he marveled at the sheer size of the buildings and the number of people that streamed along the sidewalks. Nowhere else in Johto could one find this. There was certainly nothing like this in Cutter's hometown of Cherrygrove. There the population was a little over 3,000. Cutter figured that he could enjoy a couple of days in the city, but too long and he didn't think he would be able to breathe. Literally. The city had a pollution problem that made it hard for Cutter, who had become accustomed to the clean, fresh air of the wilderness, to breathe.

After only a few minutes of walking, the familiar red roof of a Pokemon Center came into view. Cutter smiled and his stride grew a little quicker. He had only been away from civilization for less than a week, but he always missed beds and showers. He would never get used to sleeping on the ground, he had decided.

He stepped through the door and was greeted by a bustling lobby. The further Cutter got in his journey, the more people he saw. The Silver Conference had just finished, so people were starting up on their gym challenges. Soon, there would rarely be a time when Cutter was alone on the road, even if it wasn't by choice. Other travelers would be all around. Cutter had thought about finding a traveling companion, but he couldn't decide. For a while he had thought he might ask Terrance to join him the next time they met, but over the last several days, Cutter had begun to change his mind. On the plus side, Terrance was incredibly nice, both to his pokemon and to Cutter. He was good company too. On the other hand, he just didn't seem dedicated to training, not like Cutter was at least. He only focused on training his Elekid. The rest of his pokemon had been left behind by their trainer. Cutter pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he walked up to the front desk of the Pokemon Center. For now he had to worry about finding Terrance.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The receptionist was not the typical dyed pink hair Nurse Joy. The Joy family ran the Pokemon Centers not only around the Johto region, but also around the world. The entire Joy family shared such similar facial features and they all dyed their hair pink and seeing the face of a Joy when you walked into a Pokemon Center just made one feel a little more at home. Seeing someone running the front desk that wasn't a Joy made Cutter feel a tad uneasy, but he pushed it out of his mind and addressed the tall dark haired man in front of him. "My friend might have checked into this Pokemon Center about an hour ago? I was wondering if you could check for me."

"Absolutely, sir. What was the name?" The dark-haired man, whose nametag read 'Michael,' perched his fingers over the keyboard, ready to type in whatever name Cutter gave him.

"Umm, Terrance…" Cutter faltered. He didn't actually know Terrance's last name.

"Terrance. And what's the last name?" Michael had a genuine smile plastered on his face, not unlike the Joy family's signature smile.

"See, I actually don't know," Cutter began sheepishly. "We've only been traveling together for the last two days. I had a stop to make right outside of Goldenrod and he came ahead to get us rooms at a Center in town. But there are so many, and I don't know which one he came to." For a moment, there was a silence that hung in the air like a blanket.

"I'm sorry sir. There is nothing that we are able to do. The Pokemon Center has specific cautionary measures in place in order to prevent potential trouble and crime. Without a last name for your friend, I cannot give you any more information. I'm afraid that it will be the same at every Center across town."

Cutter sighed and hung his head. He contemplated what to do for a moment before speaking up. "Thank you. I understand." Cutter reached into his backpack and pulled out his Pokedex, pushing it across the counter to Michael. "Could I get a room for one, please?" Without Terrance's last name, there was nothing that he could do. He would just have to hope he saw Terrance around town. And if he didn't, it was no big deal. He wasn't set on continuing his travels with Terrance anyhow. But it would have been nice to not be completely alone in the big city. Cutter had been to Goldenrod before, but that was when he was younger. He hadn't been in quite some time. Cutter pushed the thought from his mind. What was he thinking? He had his pokemon with him. He was never truly alone anymore. Silver, Bellow, Rillo, and Nostradamus were there for him.

"Here you are Mr. Robinson, your Pokedex and room key. You will be in room 907. We have elevators on either side of the front desk here. We also have a complimentary cafeteria that is open from 7 A.M. to 11 P.M. each day, right down that hall. Video phones are opposite the cafeteria. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually. I'd like to get a check-up and healing for my pokemon, if that would be alright."

"Absolutely, sir." Michael placed a tray designed for holding pokeballs on the counter between them. "If you would, just place your pokeballs right here." Cutter pulled the three pokeballs and one premier ball off of his waist and placed them into the indentations in the tray. "Thank you. If you want to explore the Center or check into your room, we will announce your name over the loudspeaker and also phone directly to your room." Michael placed the tray onto a cart and pushed it through the double doors behind the counter, leading to what Cutter assumed was the hospital wing.

Now that Cutter was alone, he realized he was hungry. Over the last day and a half, Cutter had been running low on pokemon food so he had had to give his pokemon some of his food. He had brought food for three pokemon and himself—not a fourth pokemon. Not that he was complaining about Nostradamus. He was extremely happy with his newest team member. But he had quickly realized that Nostradamus was descended from a very large Girafarig. And that meant that Nostradamus would eventually grow to be that large, meaning that Nostradamus ate a LOT of food.

Cutter would have to go shopping at some point, for food and other supplies, and he was in the place to do it. Goldenrod was known for its shopping. It had multiple malls, boutiques, marts, and more. Cutter was excited to check them out. He had been saving up his money so that he could get some stuff. Plus, there was a legal Battle Facility that he wanted to check out. He knew he could make some good money there if he did well enough.

Cutter wandered around the lobby, purposefully avoiding the cafeteria. He was hungry, but so were his pokemon. They would want to eat too. Cutter would just have to wait on them to be healed. He figured that it wouldn't take too long. They were all in fine shape, just a few scrapes, bruises, and overall tiredness from all the battling.

He began to read fliers that were up on the bulletin board in the lobby of the Center. There were many for local boutiques. There was one about a bicycle shop, one about a flower shop, and one that specifically caught his eye, a flier advertising for a tournament that would be happening in Goldenrod in three days' time. Cutter read the flier eagerly, desperately wanting to sign up. This seemed like a big deal, and it would be good to enter into something like this. It would be his first tournament, plus it seemed like it would be in front of a crowd, which was something Cutter would need experience with eventually. Might as well start now.

According to the flier there was a different level of the tournament for every two badges you had. So Cutter, only having two badges, would be in the lowest level of the tournament. That way he wouldn't have to face off against someone with more badges who was obviously more skilled and experienced than he was. The prizes were better the higher level you went, but there was nothing Cutter could do about that. For the two badge and below tier, the prize was 2500 pokedollars or a TM of choice from Goldenrod's main shopping mall, Goldenrod Goods. That was no small prize, either. Cutter could do with 2500 pokedollars or a TM, either would make him happy. Whenever his name was called to retrieve his pokemon, he would register. The next three days would be spent training and exploring Goldenrod. Then Cutter would win the tournament, and after that he could challenge, and beat, Whitney. Cutter smiled. He would be a pokemon master sooner than anyone expected. That would teach those jerks from his hometown to mess with him. Cutter sighed and shook his head. Negativity wouldn't help him make his way to the top.

Cutter moved on from the flier about the Goldenrod Tournament and his eyes quickly settled on another. In three weeks, there was going to be a bug catching contest in the National Park, north of Goldenrod. Many different kinds of bug pokemon were released into the park the night before, exotic and native to Johto, and whoever caught the best one, won a small prize. Three weeks. Cutter frowned. That was a long time to spend in Goldenrod. But, he could spend a week here now, then spend some time in Saffron, then spend another week in Goldenrod. Cutter didn't know how his team would like spending so much time in big cities, but he figured that if he could catch a rare and powerful bug pokemon, it would be worth it. Considering strong bug pokemon were rare, Cutter figured that he ought to capitalize on the opportunity, especially if there would be bug pokemon that didn't normally reside in Johto. The main competitive bug pokemon of Johto was the Scizor line and Heracross. Occasionally people would use Yanmega. Then there were the weaker bug types of Johto, like Ledian, Ariados, Forretress, and Shuckle. Now, under the right trainer, any of these bugs could be utilized and made quite powerful. Usually though, the trainers who caught these pokemon didn't know how to utilize their full potential. A couple years ago, though, after his father's time dominating with his Ledian, there came a trainer, out of nowhere, who dominated using a Forretress. Cutter smiled at the thought of using a pokemon no one expected to be powerful and absolutely wrecking the competition with it. None of his pokemon so far were like that. They were all competitively viable in name alone. No one heard the names Tyranitar or Ampharos and pushed them to the side. Even poorly trained pokemon like Tyranitar or Ampharos could wreak havoc on the battlefield. One day, though, Cutter would have a pokemon no one expected to be strong. That's when he would catch his opponents off guard. He smiled at the thought and began to run through all of the powerful bug types from other regions that he might be able to catch. Ones like Vikavolt, Ninjask, Durant, Vespiquen, Scolipede. On Scolipede, Cutter stopped and smiled. No bug pokemon could ever possibly compare to Scolipede. Ever since he was young he had wanted to train a Scolipede. They just looked so badass, and Cutter had done extensive research on them. He had been convinced that he wouldn't be able to train one until he left Johto. They were native to Unova, and Unova pokemon were rarely, if ever, found outside of Unova. Unova was a crazy place, Cutter had learned that in school. A majority of its pokemon were incredibly powerful, even without being trained. Pokemon like Hydreigon, Krookodile, Scolipede, Durant, Heatmor, and more, ran amok. This forced the Unova trainers to grow quickly, and grow ruthlessly. Cutter had personally never met anyone from Unova, but he had watched one in the Silver Conference on TV once and the man who had been battling showed no mercy.

"Cutter Robinson, Cutter Robinson, your pokemon are ready," the loudspeaker echoed above him. He pulled out his Pokedex and added both the date of the Goldenrod Tournament and of the Bug Catching Contest into his pokedex's calendar, and headed to the front counter where Michael greeted him with a smiling face and his four pokeballs.

"Here you are, Mr. Robinson. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

"Yeah, actually. I wanted to register for the Goldenrod Tournament. Do I do that here?"

"Yes sir you do. Now, I still have your information from when I scanned your Pokedex previously. Two badges, is that correct?" Cutter nodded. "Alright. It looks like you actually just got the last spot. You took the place of someone with one badge." At Cutter's confused look, Michael explained further, "in this tournament, if you have the highest number of badges in your level, you are given prevalence over someone who has less. So, since you have two badges, you have prevalence over someone who has one badge. And someone with eight badges would have prevalence in entering this tournament over someone with seven badges."

"In order to make the competition as even as possible?" Cutter asked.

"Exactly, Mr. Robinson." There was a slight pause and Cutter didn't know what to say. Luckily, Michael spoke back up.

"You're all registered. The tournament begins at 9 A.M. in three days' time. It will be held at the Goldenrod Showcase Center, or GSC. You'll find a complimentary map in your room. I recommend scouting out the area and making sure you know how to get there before the morning of the tournament. If you aren't checked in by 9 A.M. on the dot, they hand your spot down to someone on the waiting list."

"Thank you for all your help, I'll make sure to check it out tomorrow." Cutter smiled at the helpful receptionist and walked towards the cafeteria. Both he and his pokemon were ready to eat.

His pokemon sure were ready to eat. Luckily it was four in the afternoon and few people were in the cafeteria, because Cutter's pokemon acted like they had never been taught any table manners. And, Cutter supposed, they hadn't. Especially not Nostradamus, seeing as how he had never been inside a building of any sort, at least as far as Cutter knew.

Cutter made sure to get his pokemon's favorite foods himself, plus a few other things they might want to try, before he let them out of their pokeballs. And then all hell broke loose. Bellow stole something from Rillo's plate. In return, Rillo shocked Bellow. Unfortunately, Nostradamus had gotten too close to Rillo during this time and received a shock as well. Silver readied a rock to throw, sort of acting like the peacemaker, but Cutter knew that as soon as a rock flew, things would get even worse. So, Cutter stood up in the middle of it all to tell them to "stop it! We are in public!" and unfortunately Cutter got shocked too. It was only a slight shock, but it was enough to knock him on his butt. By now everyone was staring, either at his team's lack of manners or the pure white Girafarig, but at this point Cutter was too out of it to care. If the shock did anything good, it quieted his pokemon. They all lowered their heads in shame, especially Rillo and Bellow. To top it all off, Cutter not only felt the shock that Nostradamus felt, but he also felt the Girafarig's shame.

"Look. We are in the biggest city in all of Johto. Specifically, we are in a CITY. We aren't in the wilderness anymore. You four have to behave. Nos, I'll cut you some slack because you've never been in a town before, but the rest of you. You three know better." Cutter looked at his team, Bellow had honey clumped in her fur, Rillo had a berry sticking out from the fur on top of her head, and from the corner of Silver's mouth dripped some sort of sauce—lasagna, maybe? Cutter couldn't help but laugh. "I love you guys." They finished their meal in, relative, peace, and then decided to go explore the city. It was still the afternoon and there were many hours until dark. Even then, Goldenrod was not known as a city that went to bed early. People partied and clubbed and battled all night long in this city.

As Cutter walked and Bellow rode on his shoulder, they admired the city. Cutter wanted to find the Battle Facility so that he could train his team a little bit. If the events in the cafeteria were anything to go by, they needed to release some energy.

There were two kinds of Battle Facilities: the legal and the illegal. Cutter figured that both would happen in a city as large as Goldenrod, but it was easy to tell which was which. The legal ones were considered to be safe, and were well advertised. The illegal… well, Cutter didn't know too much about those. He didn't want to either. Not until his pokemon were strong enough to battle real threats at least.

Cutter looked at the map that had been in his room. According to it, there should have been a facility right in front of Cutter. He turned, checking out each building around him, but he just couldn't figure out which one it was. So many of the shiny, tall buildings looked the exact same to him. _Well, only one way to find out_ , Cutter shrugged to himself and pushed through the doors of the building closest to him after returning Bellow to her pokeball.

As Cutter stepped through the double glass doors, a burst of cold air greeted him. Johto was quickly turning to its summer season and the air-conditioned building was a welcome comfort. Unfortunately, as Cutter quickly noticed, he had chosen incorrectly. The building seemed to be home to a pokemon grooming company. He didn't have time to turn and leave before someone called out to him. "Hello, darling. How can we help you?" The voice belonged to a tall man with dyed blue hair. He had glasses perched on the end of his nose and looked down at Cutter, as if in disdain.

"Oh, um, I was just looking for the Battle Facility." When Cutter said Battle Facility, the blue-haired man's eyes narrowed and he began looking at him suspiciously. "My map said it was on this street. I'm not from here. I want to train for my gym battle." Cutter realized he had begun to babble and shut himself up.

"Well this is certainly no place for battles. We do groom pokemon, though. Do you have one that needs grooming?"

Cutter began to answer a definite no to the man, but quickly bit his tongue. He remembered something he had read a while back. As he had been doing some research into each of his pokemon, he had found that in order for Flaaffy and Mareep to stay in peak condition, they needed to have their wool cut once every two to three months. Ampharos didn't need it because at that point they had no wool, just short, sleek hair. That hair needed to be brushed, but it didn't need a professional job. Flaaffy on the other hand was a completely different story. Cutter didn't know the first thing about grooming wool. "Yes. I have a Flaaffy that needs a… trim?" Cutter said uncertainly.

The tall man paused, as if thinking. Finally, "May I see your Flaaffy?" Cutter released Rillo from her pokeball and instantly the man began examining her. Rillo looked confused, but seeing that her trainer was comfortable with the situation, she put on a brave face as well. "Yes. She appears to be in excellent health, but in desperate need of a shearing. Twigs and leaves everywhere. She needs a bath as well." At the word bath, Rillo started to freak out. Cutter had tried to give her a bath once, but she did not care for it. Her electricity had not agreed with the water, and Cutter ended up with more than a little shock that evening.

"Not to worry. I say bath. It isn't a bath as much as it is a rub down. We will use a cloth designed specifically for electric types. It doesn't use water, instead using a certain oil that tends to agree with electric types." Rillo calmed slightly at the man's words, but still she stayed wary.

Cutter knelt down to speak to her. "Rillo, this man is going to clean you up, okay? I'll be right out here the whole time. You have nothing to worry about." Rillo "laa'ed," touching her tail to her trainer. Cutter smiled and rubbed the top of her head.

"This will take thirty to forty-five minutes. You can have a seat right over there," the man gestured towards some fancy looking chairs that sat at the side of the room.

Rillo followed the man to the back of the shop and Cutter took a seat, releasing Bellow and Silver. He would have released the Girafarig, but he didn't want Nos drawing any more attention to himself than possible. Cutter knew that they were in a safe part of town, but criminals could be reckless. Cutter did not want to take any chances with his newest pokemon.

That was something Cutter was worried about. He was not yet an accomplished enough trainer to truly protect Nostradamus if a serious criminal were to come after them. But he couldn't very well keep Nostradamus in his pokeball all the time. Nostradamus had potential to be an incredibly powerful pokemon, plus Cutter enjoyed spending time with him. He would just have to be extra careful when it came to Nos.

As they waited, Silver made pebbles that he would then launch at Bellow, who would in turn dodge them. That was a fine game for them to play for a little while, until Silver threw a pebble a little too hard and it hit a window. Then that was it for the games involving rocks. Cutter read to them from a magazine that was sitting on a table by his chair. He told them about the winner of this year's Under 30 Silver Conference. A twenty-four-year-old named Hunter Lexington had won spectacularly in the finals. The magazine listed his hometown, Slateport of the Hoenn region, the six pokemon he had used in the finals, and all of the pokemon of his that had made an appearance in the Silver Conference. The team he used in the finals included Espeon, Metagross, Manectric, Dodrio, Flygon, and his starter, Crawdaunt. Other notable pokemon of Hunter's that stood out to Cutter that he told Silver and Bellow about included Keckleon, a pokemon that could change color depending on its surroundings, Absol, and Breloom. The magazine also included an interview that it had had with Hunter. This was his third major tournament, the other two being the Ever Grande Conference in Hoenn and the Indigo Plateau Conference in Kanto. The interview also stated that he had a twin sister, Natasha, who would be collecting badges in the Johto region in order to compete in the next Silver Conference. While he had been journeying through Johto, she had gone through Sinnoh. Before that, though, they had traveled together through both Hoenn and Indigo. Cutter would have to stay on the lookout for her. If she was the sister of this year's Silver Conference victor, she was someone that he would want to challenge. No need to be worried about that potential challenge now, though. She had already competed in three other major conferences. She was obviously ahead of him, for now at least. Now Cutter had someone to aim for. He smiled and put down the magazine. As soon as Rillo was done with her grooming, it would be time for some training.

Forty-five minutes later, Cutter was walking out of the grooming company with Rillo by his side looking clean and happy. He had never seen Rillo this happy. She was practically glowing. The grooming cost a bit more than Cutter would have liked, but if it made Rillo this happy, he was willing to fork out a little more cash than usual.

He could have made 50 pokedollars back, had he been willing to sell the wool to the grooming company. Oddly enough, he hadn't wanted to sell Rillo's wool. Cutter had always heard his mother talk about keeping the hair from his first haircut, but Cutter had disregarded it. Now he realized exactly what she was talking about. He didn't know how to explain it, exactly, but he knew he wanted to keep the wool. Next time he would sell it, but this time he needed to keep it.

Thankfully, the man, James, Cutter had learned his name was, told him exactly how to get to the Battle Facility. It was right next door. Cutter had almost guessed correctly. But his incorrect guess had, ultimately, paid off quite nicely, even if James had been a strange man and his red-haired assistant had stared him down in a rude manner as he left.

Cutter walked into the Battle Facility and wasn't quite prepared for what he saw. He had been expecting something close to a gym, but the reality of the Battle Facility was far from it. As soon as Cutter walked in, he saw a horde of people gathered around a battlefield where a Scyther and a Feraligatr battled. It wasn't a pretty, clean battle either. The two went at it as hard as they could, not pulling any punches. The Feraligatr had what Cutter assumed to be blood coating much of its body, so much so that there were parts of the Feraligatr that were more red than blue. And the Scyther was leaking a golden liquid that Cutter figured was the equivalent of its blood. He hadn't expected this. This was a legal Battle Facility. It was much more like a street battle than he expected. He wasn't so sure he wanted to battle anymore.

As he watched the Feraligatr fall and the Scyther emerge victorious, he turned to leave, but he felt a large hand clap him on the back. "Well, what do we have here?" Cutter looked up and a large, well-muscled man with dark skin was smiling down at him. "A greenie? We don't see too many of you around here. It's time to battle."

"Oh, I-I-I don't think so. I just w-w-wanted to check out what the Battle Facility was all about." Cutter mentally cursed himself for stuttering. "I've got to get going."

"No, boy, it's your turn to battle! You're our guest." Cutter found himself being led to the battle field where the fresh blood of the Scyther and Feraligatr lingered. "This here is our newest competitor. Tell your name to the crowd." The final sentence was a command, not a suggestion, even if the man's tone was friendly.

"Cutter," Cutter mumbled.

"Speak up, boy! No one heard you." The larger man boomed.

"Cutter," he said, speaking up.

"Cutter! Who here wants to battle this greenie? Anyone?" The man was looking around the large group of rough looking people, mostly men, waiting for a volunteer.

"Me." From the crowd stepped a boy that appeared to be Cutter's age. He was short and squat and had a bowl haircut that made his head look fatter than it probably was. Most of all though, he looked angry. His glasses made his beady eyes stand out and his mouth was pressed into a permanent snarl.

"Boo!" Cutter looked up confused, wondering why he was booing the other challenger. He saw that the man was smiling and got even more confused. "Boo, you want to battle?"

"Yes. I do." Apparently, he was a man of few words.

"Well, you're in for a treat, boy. You better be good because Boo is one of the best greenie's I've ever seen." The man leaned in close and whispered in Cutter's ear "watch out. Don't let Boo make you his bitch in this battle. He's ruthless." With that, the man went to the middle of the field, yelling up at the crowd. "As many of you know, I am Dante. Here we have Boo, a greenie favorite of this here Battle Facility. On the other end, we have Cutter, the newest visitor of our favored establishment. This will be a one on one battle. The battle's over whenever one pokemon either can't continue, or is dead." Cutter hoped that part was a joke, but Dante always seemed to be smiling so he couldn't tell. "The winner will win 200 soon as I exit the field, you will both throw out your first pokemon."

Dante jogged off the field and Cutter pulled Silver's pokeball off of his belt. He had debated using Bellow, but decided that Silver was more durable and could better handle a larger variety of pokemon. Rillo and Nostradamus were both definitely off the table.

Cutter saw Boo ready a pokeball as well. They made eye contact and Cutter nodded. Boo remained still. Then at the same time, they both tossed out their pokemon. Silver materialized on Cutter's end of the makeshift battle plot. On the other end appeared a black fire and dark type pokemon. Houndour. Cutter sighed with relief. He was familiar with Houndour, they were common in the northern part of Johto. And on the plus side, they had a natural weakness to rock types. Cutter still kept his guard up regardless, though. Type advantages weren't the end all, be all in battles. Much more went into it than that. Cutter knew from experience. Bugsy's Scyther, who had a double weakness to rock type pokemon, had almost beaten Silver. If Silver hadn't been a little lucky, the battle might have gone the other way. And in a place like this, anything could happen. Flames licked at Houndour's red-orange muzzle and its eyes were an angry red and the bony helmet that sat on its forehead only furthered its angry look.

Cutter saw Boo's scowl harden further when he saw what he was facing. Boo wasn't the only disappointed one either, if the angry sounding shouts coming from the crowd were anything to go by.

"Be careful, Silver. This isn't like any place we've-," Cutter shouted, before he was cut off by a shout of Boo's.

"Fire fang." Boo's shout was aggressive and the Houndour listened immediately, springing towards Silver.

"Sandstorm! Big! Don't let him find you." Cutter shouted his orders, already nervous. Houndour were notoriously mean, and one that had been battling in a place like that couldn't possibly be breaking that stereotype. Silver had the sandstorm up immediately, expelling sands from his body, covering the entire field in the swirling sand. The crowd reacted angrily. With no psychic barriers holding the pokemon inside of the field, the sandstorm easily spread through the entire room. Cutter didn't react, his body having gotten used to the rough sands from the hours of training he had done with Silver.

"Dammit, Gol. Odor Sleuth."

Cutter didn't plan on waiting for that to happen. "Rocky Sand!" After a second Cutter followed up on that command, realizing the danger for the crowd around the field, "keep the rocks close to you." Cutter couldn't see through the sandstorm well enough, but he figured that Silver was following his orders.

They were currently at a stalemate. Silver was safe inside of his rocky sandstorm, but he couldn't do much else in terms of going on the offensive. It would take too much energy for Silver to try anything else while keeping up the rocky sandstorm. But on the other side of it, the opposing Houndour, called Gol, couldn't get through the rocks swirling around Silver without being seriously hurt.

The sandstorm started to turn a sickly shade of purple, and for a second Cutter couldn't figure out what was happening. Then it hit him. Houndour could use smog, and the sandstorm was only serving to stir it around, making it fill all the air around them. Cutter grit his teeth. He hoped Silver could live the poison longer than the Houndour could survive the sandstorm, but he didn't want to risk it. It was time to end the sandstorm.

"Drop the sandstorm and use screech!" The sandstorm fell immediately, and Cutter got a good look at both pokemon. They were both tired. Silver was panting from keeping up a sandstorm of that size and the Houndour had scrapes all along its body from the high-speed sands and rocks. The crowd cheered in relief at the sandstorm falling, but when Silver started screeching, they all screamed and scowled and covered their ears. Cutter covered his ears too, but mostly he smiled. Houndour had especially sensitive ears and this screech would buy Silver several seconds to attack.

"Rock tomb! Stay back." At his trainer's command, Silver slammed his tiny hand into the ground and several spires of rock sprung from the ground underneath Gol, throwing him into the air. Gol howled in pain, but that just seemed to make Boo even angrier. "Gol, get up," the short trainer shouted when his Houndour hit the ground. For a second it seemed like Gol the Houndour wasn't going to get up, but after a moment it forced itself up onto shaky legs. "Now, go in for a fire fang again!"

At his trainer's order, he ran raggedly toward Silver, who already knew what to do. As soon as the injured Houndour was close enough, Silver formed used rock throw and slammed the large rock into the head of Gol.

Gol collapsed as the rock shattered, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Apparently, they had forgotten that they hated Cutter and were now cheering for him. Cutter smiled and walked out to Silver, offering him an Oran berry he had pulled from his backpack. The Houndour had been withdrawn into his trainer's pokeball as Boo walked towards him.

Cutter scratched the red scales of Silver's belly as Dante boomed, from only a few feet away, "well, it looks like Cutter is the best greenie around! He took down Boo, our reigning greenie champion." Cutter frowned uncomfortably at how much Dante used the word greenie, but Dante didn't notice. "He wins 200 pokedollars and the respect of all you losers!" The crowd erupted into laughter at Dante's joke as Boo slapped the 200 pokedollars into Cutter's hand.

Cutter started to thank him, but Boo had walked away before he could.

"Whaddya say ya come back sometime, huh?" Dante asked, quieter than Cutter had heard him before.

"I think this was a one time thing, for now at least. Maybe when I'm stronger I'll come back." Dante frowned, but Cutter hurriedly continued. "I mean, if I already beat your best greenie," Cutter cringed inwardly at using the word, "I have no more challenge here until I'm strong enough to beat you."

Dante laughed heartily and grabbed Cutter's shoulder. "You're right about that. Once you're stronger, and older, come back. You and I will have a mighty fun battle." Dante winked, squeezed Cutter's shoulder, and walked away to join a group of men just as muscular and loud as he was.

Cutter didn't know quite how to respond, so he recalled Silver to his pokeball and turned to leave. Before he could get to the door, another large, less muscular than Dante but more muscular than Cutter, man stopped him before he could reach the door. "You better watch out. Dante was flirting with you."

This time, Cutter's cringe was outward. "W-what?"

"He's not much for showing feelings, but that was his way of flirting. If you don't swing that way, or aren't a real rough type, I'd suggest you not come back." Cutter tried to tell if the man was joking, but he couldn't.

"I… I'm only eighteen," was all that Cutter could say.

"That's only ten years."

"How do you know?" Cutter couldn't seem to wrap his head around what was happening.

"He winked at you. And he called you boy several times. And did you pay attention to what the last thing he said to you was?" There was a pause as Cutter processed what he was being told.

"Yeah. I'm. I'm going to go." And with that, Cutter ran out of the door and back to the Pokemon Center as fast as he could.

Several hours later, Cutter was lying in bed. Silver had been healed and his entire team was out in the room with him. Silver was sitting on the desk chair, a wear-and-tear-proof blanket covering him, keeping a watch over the team and beginning to doze off. Nostradamus stood by the window, moonlight reflecting beautifully off of his pure white coat. Rillo laid on a makeshift pallet, fast asleep. Wires coming from the wall were attached to her at key points—her tail and her two cone like ears—in order to fully recharge her electrical organs. She could build up as much electricity through running and charge beams as she wanted, but without a proper recharge from either a storm or a pokemon center, she wouldn't be able to perform at her full potential.

The only one in the bed with Cutter was Bellow. She was curled up on the other pillow, next to his head. She barely fit and had been growing like crazy over the last month and a half. Cutter smiled sleepily, thinking about the awesome day of training ahead of them tomorrow. After only a few seconds, he dozed off as well.

The next few days were spent training like crazy for the upcoming tournament. Cutter had learned that there would be 64 people in the tournament, and it would last for three days. The first two rounds on day one, the third and fourth rounds on day two, and the finals on day three. That was how it was in each division. All of the battles of each division were to be held in the GSC, so Cutter would get to watch some strong trainers battle. He couldn't wait.

He had also learned that in the round of 64 and the round of 32, each trainer would use only one pokemon. Then, in the round 16 and the quarterfinals, two pokemon would be used by each trainer. Then, if Cutter made it that far, the semifinals and the finals would have him using three pokemon.

That meant that as long as Cutter advanced past the first two rounds, both Nostradamus and Rillo would have to battle. Cutter couldn't afford for either of them to look bad in front of potentially thousands of people, so Cutter put training, not exploring the city, at top priority. He could explore the city in his back in Goldenrod after visiting Sabrina in Saffron.

With two days until the tournament, Cutter could not afford to slack. He spent the first day focusing on Nostradamus and Rillo on one of the battle plots in the Pokemon Center. While he worked with Rillo and Nos on one end of the battle plot, he had Silver and Bellow on the opposite end working on new moves.

Silver was trying to learn thrash. Thrash was a normal type move that involved completely pummeling away at the opponent. It was a hard move to learn because it involved going past your body's natural limits. But Cutter figured that if any of his pokemon could do it, it was Silver. He didn't even have to get it perfectly, he just needed to get the basics of it today and begin polishing it tomorrow. Plus thrash could essentially replace tackle, which Cutter never had Silver use anyways.

Bellow was working on agility. Agility increased the pokemon's speed by loosening the muscles and helping the blood flow throughout the body more easily. Basically, it was a more refined quick attack that didn't damage the opponent. Cutter figured with Bellow's natural speed, they might as well just make it nearly impossible for opposing pokemon to hit her at all. She was fragile enough as it was. Increasing her speed would also increase her evasiveness, and that was something that Cutter liked.

As soon as Cutter had explained to Silver and Bellow what they were doing he set the two of them on learning their new moves. Cutter then moved on to Rillo and Nostradamus. For the two of them, Cutter wanted to focus on developing the moves they already had.

For Nostradamus that meant Cutter trying to get him to use moves that the Pokedex said he already knew, like crunch, hypnosis, dazzling gleam, and nasty plot. Agility was also an option, but Cutter figured that once Nos grew, he would be able to tank hits pretty well. He didn't think that a Girafarig as large as Nos was going to be would need to move super quickly, so he pushed agility to the side. Cutter debated over the four possible moves and eventually decided that crunch would be the easiest to learn for the time being.

Cutter showed Nostradamus a video, using the large TV hanging on the wall of the indoor battle plot, of another Girafarig using crunch. While Nostradamus watched the video, Cutter set out some plastic dummies that the Center had available for Nos to practice on.

After the video was over, Nos went and began trying out crunch, first on nothing in particular. Cutter instructed Nostradamus to only use crunch on the dummies once he felt he had it down relatively well.

Cutter wanted Rillo to work on electric terrain. If she could get electric terrain, then all of her electric type attacks would increase in power. He also wanted to work on thunder wave, which paralyzed the target, but he had a special plan for that after electric terrain was perfected.

He showed Rillo a video as well, then got her started in another corner of the battle plot. He was confident she would get it quickly, it was just a matter of practicing it over and over again. "Good repetition," Cutter's father had always said, emphasizing the word good, "is the key to growth. If you practice something repeatedly, you'll get better and better."

An hour later, and Cutter wasn't quite believing his father's advice. Bellow had mastered agility, but other than that, his pokemon were having trouble with their new moves. Silver had made some progress, but it still just seemed like an over glorified tackle.

Rillo was making more than just a few sparks appear, but nothing that covered any area and nothing that lasted longer than a second or two.

Nos had also made a little progress, but what was supposed to be a crunch was weaker than a bite, and there was no dark type energy involved. Cutter had a solution for Nostradamus. It was for the other two that he didn't quite know what to do.

Since Bellow had mastered agility, and had mastered feint attack a long time ago, Cutter had Bellow demonstrate the dark type energy. Bellow having some dark type attributes didn't hurt matters either.

For Silver, Cutter just had him on the repetition path. Without another pokemon that knew thrash or a fighting type that knew close combat, Cutter didn't know another way to teach the move. He tried explaining more, but Silver wasn't seeming to grasp it. "Just… attack with all your limbs and your torso at once. Don't restrict it to just your head." Silver looked at him dejectedly. Cutter leaned down and rubbed his starter's head. "Hey, you'll get it. Don't worry. Just keep practicing. If anyone can do it, it's you."

Cuter figured part of the dejection came from not being able to learn thrash, but most of it stemmed from the fact that Bellow mastered agility before he was even able to attempt thrash. Cutter wanted his starter to feel as loved and appreciated as possible. "You're doing great. Keep it up."

Cutter walked to the edge of the battle plot to think while his pokemon kept training. He watched Silver attempt thrash on the dummy for a couple seconds. Right before Silver tried it for the third time, a spark of electricity popped up.

Cutter's head whipped around to the opposite end of the plot where Rillo was practicing. Then it hit him. Rillo had been trying to use electric terrain on the entire plot, which was only slightly smaller than a regulation football field. Flaaffy was young and barely evolved. There was no way she had enough electricity in her to cover the entire field for any period of time. No, she would have to focus her energies on a much smaller area.

Cutter explained his thoughts to her and she "laa'ed" in agreement. He backed away to watch her attempt a smaller electric terrain.

She got it on her first try. The electricity spread out from her along the ground, only extending several feet, but it was a thick, misty coating of electricity that covered the ground around her. Cutter whooped and smiled, jumping up and down on the ground, cheering her on.

"The next step," Cutter explained, "is to make it last. From here I want you to use electric terrain and just work on holding it for as long as you can." Rillo nodded and focused harder, keeping up the electric terrain.

Cutter collapsed quietly onto the bed, late that night, the rest of his pokemon already asleep in the room. They were in the exact same layout as the night before. Who knew training would be so tiring for him. He wasn't even the one doing the real work. By the end of the day, Bellow had also mastered slash, replacing the incredibly weak scratch. Silver had gotten much closer to thrash, but still wasn't anywhere near having it down. After his pep talk with Cutter, he had begun working double time on it and Cutter couldn't have been more proud.

Once Bellow showed Nostradamus her feint attack, Nos had gotten crunch almost immediately. From there Nos had begun working on gypnosis. Since Nos couldn't use hypnosis on an inanimate object, Cutter allowed Nos to practice on him. Several times Nos had used it, he had begun to feel drowsy, but Cutter couldn't tell if that was because of the move or if it was just because he was worn out.

Rillo had managed to increase the longevity and size of electric terrain, and Cutter would have been pleased with just that. Rillo however was one never to disappoint, so she learned thunder wave as well.

Cutter smiled absentmindedly and thought about the next day's training. Silver would continue to work on thrash. He didn't want Bellow to get too overwhelmed with new moves, so they would just work on speed training. For Rillo, they would work on electric terrain some more. Nostradamus was learning at an incredibly fast pace, and Cutter figured that due to his increased IQ and overall understanding, after they finished with hypnosis, they could work on dazzling gleam. Cutter had debated for a while over nasty plot or dazzling gleam. Nasty plot increased the power of special attacks by making the user warier and focusing them in on the opponent's weaker points. Dazzling gleam was a fairy type move that dealt damage by emitting a dense flash. It was similar to the move flash, but flash was just light, and dazzling gleam had some sort of fairy type energy that went along with it. Frankly, Cutter didn't know where to begin with teaching dazzling gleam. He figured that it shouldn't be too difficult, considering the Pokedex said Nos already knew the move. And with Nostradamus' psychic typing and higher level of intelligence, Nos had a better grasp on things than Cutter sometimes realized.

Ultimately, Cutter designed on dazzling gleam. Nasty plot would be awesome, but for now the only special attack that Nostradamus had was confusion. Stomp, zen headbutt, and crunch were all physical attacks. Once Nos knew dazzling gleam in addition to confusion, it would be worth it to teach nasty plot. Then, from nasty plot they could go into calm mind, which was essentially a level up from nasty plot. Instead of focusing on the opponent's weak points like nasty plot did, calm mind cleared the user's mind, allowing it to focus better on the battle at hand and not worry about outside factors such as an audience or the opposing trainer. Calm mind not only made special attacks stronger, but it allowed for the user to defend against the opponent's special attacks as well.

The next day went by quickly and by the end of it, Cutter was more than happy with everything his team had accomplished. Silver had finally gotten the basics of thrash down. Bellow had increased the power of agility, and Cutter figured that soon she would be able to learn double team. Rillo had made electric terrain much more potent, and while it still didn't cover the whole field, it covered roughly an eighth. To Cutter, that was incredible. Rillo was a tiny pokemon, and the fact that she could handle that much electricity made him almost giddy at how powerful she would be as an Ampharos.

Nostradamus had mastered hypnosis and dazzling gleam as well, and Cutter figured that soon Nos would also be ready to learn double team. He had progressed quickly, much more quickly than Cutter anticipated. Cutter knew Nos was ready for the tournament, he just didn't know if he would be able to handle the pain that was thrown at him. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, but it had taken root. Cutter would have to use Nostradamus in the tournament. There was no way Rillo, Silver, and Bellow could handle the potential six battles just the three of them. They would need a fourth member to be there for them.

Nostradamus was easily becoming one of the stronger members of the team, so other than the pain, Cutter could see no logical reason for Nos to sit out. Cutter could see obvious growth in the physical size of Nostradamus. While Nos had barely been up to Cutter's waist a week prior, now he reached Cutter's bellybutton. In the span of a week, he had grown two to three inches.

Over the course of those two days, Cutter had gone through a variety of emotions, only half of them his. Nos had begun trying to actively put his emotions into Cutter. Whenever Cutter would become annoyed at the team's lack of progress, Nos would emphasize calmness and tranquility in Cutter. As much as he hated to admit it, he was thankful for the emotional intrusions.

Near the end of the day Cutter had stopped with the constant practice on the moves and had moved on to light sparring, just for a fun cool down. They did one short spar where everyone was against each other with the lights out and Cutter enjoyed listening to that. Silver had the obvious advantage, being able to feel his opponent's movements at all times, but Nostradamus, being able to sense where the other pokemon were based on their emotions, had fared equally well.

After that he had rewarded them for their incredible work all with their favorite treats. Silver had the last of the rocks he loved so much that Cutter had saved from his mother's garden. Bellow had a huge pot of honey. Rillo wanted some grass and to be plugged up with electricity. And Nostradamus loved, Cutter had found, were apricots. So Cutter had given Nos all the apricots he wanted.

Cutter laid down to sleep, the team all in the same positions for the third night in a row, and drifted off almost immediately. He was worried that the nerves for the tournament the next day would keep him awake, but Cutter figured that Nostradamus had subdued them in order for him to get his rest. He smiled as he drifted off, feeling incredibly thankful. Thankful not only for the progress his team had made, but for his team in general. He knew they would do well in the tournament, he had no doubt about it.

xx

 **Hey! Excited to get another update out so fast. I'm super happy with this chapter, and next chapter is going to be a lot of fun battles to write! As usual, PM me with thoughts, leave reviews, likes, follows, whatever you want! Thanks for reading my story! Also, I just changed my username to Colorful Blades, so don't worry, it's still me!**


	6. The Tournament, part 2

Cutter and his team stood on the same battle plot they had been training on for the last couple of days. They had just finished a quick breakfast and were getting ready to warm up. His team fought back yawns. It was early, and they were all tired, Cutter included. But they were excited too. It was the morning of the tournament, and they were all confident in the training they had done over the last several days.

"I want to start off with some jogging, then we'll move into light sparring. Let's get four laps in, then Silver and Bellow will partner up, and Rillo and Nostradamus, you two be together." There was a pause as Cutter fought back a yawn. "Let's go! It's time to win a couple of battles!

An hour later Cutter was walking to the GSC. He had scouted it out the day before because he certainly didn't want to be late, so he knew exactly where he was going. Normally he would be walking with his team out, but he didn't want any potential competitors to see any of his pokemon. Cutter told himself he was just being paranoid, but just in case, he still wasn't taking any chances.

Cutter neared the GSC and saw that there was a line snaking out of the front doors and down the street. "Is this the line for the tournament?" Cutter asked an older, probably twenty-four/five, trainer in front of him." The older trainer looked at him like he was an idiot, mumbled "yeah" and turned back around.

He sighed at the rude trainer and looked at his Pokedex. 8:00 A.M. He had an hour. He figured that even if it came to be 9:00, since he was in line on time they wouldn't disqualify him. That's what he told himself anyways.

Turns out he had nothing to worry about. The hosts at the front desk of the GSC were efficient and good at their job. The line moved quickly and within twenty minutes Cutter was registering his Pokedex and four pokemon with the host, an older gentleman whose nametag read "Larry."

Larry informed Cutter that he would be in the "A" waiting room. "A" battlers battled "B" battlers, and they both had their own waiting rooms. That way Cutter didn't have to wait in the same room as his opponent, for ethical and sportsmanship purposes.

Larry handed him a photo of a cute blonde girl. At the bottom of the photo it said "Regina Little," and next to her name was a small "32." Larry told him that she was to be his opponent in the first round and that they would be the last battle of the first round. Cutter thanked him and made his way to the waiting room.

Cutter paced nervously in the waiting room of the GSC. He had been there since 8:30 A.M., making sure to get there early so he didn't risk being disqualified, and it was now 11:30 A.M. He had watched the first couple of battles, but his nerves had gotten the better of him. Plus, he realized that he had been comparing himself to other trainers, and that certainly wasn't healthy.

They were on the thirtieth battle, so it wouldn't be too much longer before Cutter got to go out. There were at least five thousand people in the crowd, maybe more. Since he was in the lowest division, they were in the smallest arena. The semifinals and finals for each division were held in the largest arena, so if Cutter made it that far, he would be battling in front of upwards of twenty thousand people. He shuddered at the thought and forced it away. _Focus on now. This battle. One battle at a time._

Cutter hadn't even realized that he was alone in the waiting room until a GSC employee approached him and told him "you're on deck." Cutter smiled at the young man and nodded, thanking him.

Cutter released Bellow, his first pick for the tournament. "You ready? This is our first tournament. There's gonna be a lot of people out there, but I know you're gonna do great." Bellow leapt into his lap and nuzzled into his chest.

Cutter had debated on which pokemon to use first. Rillo was out of the question. As much as she had grown in the last couple of days, Cutter just didn't trust her battling abilities enough to stake an entire battle on her. He would definitely use her in the rounds of two and three if he made it there, but that was when she would have an anchor in case she came up short.

Nostradamus would have been a good pick, but he didn't want to show his pure white Girafarig quite yet. Plus, Nostradamus had limited experience battling other trainers, so Cutter had the same reservations with Nos as he did with Rillo.

Then he had to pick between Silver and Bellow. Silver was obviously his strongest pokemon, but he figured he should save that strength as a surprise for a later round. Bellow was plenty strong enough to hold her own against any pokemon a two badge trainer might have.

Less than two minutes after the employee appeared the first time, he was back, telling Cutter, "You're up. That last battle went quickly. The winner was STRONG." Cutter smiled, but it was the most he could do. The Butterfree in his stomach were going crazy.

Cutter held Bellow's pokeball in his hand as he walked out onto the field, the crowd roaring upon seeing both challengers enter. Cutter just kept walking, noticing the plain dirt battlefield. He forced himself to concentrate on anything but the crowd. It seemed like they were there just to try to distract him.

Then came another distraction. The announcer. "On one end of the field we have Cutter Robinson from Cherrygrove Town!" The crowd cheered, and Cutter felt overwhelmed. He forced the cheering from his mind and focused on Silver's pokeball on his waist. _We've trained for this for the last two days. Focus._

The announcer waited for the cheering to die down before continuing "And on the other end of the field we have a hometown battler, Regina Little from Konikoni in Alola!" If Cutter thought the cheering was loud for him, he was not prepared for the absolute roar of yells, screams and cheers that came for Regina.

Regina was from another region. The crowd loved seeing foreign pokemon, and Alola was an incredible tourist region. The people of Johto loved Alola. _Great,_ Cutter thought to himself. _Battling against someone with a crowd advantage_. Cutter barely had time to finish his thought before the referee yelled out, "this will be a one on one battle! Whoever's pokemon is unable to battle first loses. There is no time limit. You will both choose your pokemon at the same time."

Cutter put his hand on Bellow's pokeball, pulling it up and holding it out in front of him. Regina stood opposite, tossing a great ball up and down in her hand, seemingly confident.

"Begin!" the referee yelled, slamming the flags in his hands down against his side.

"Bellow, let's go!" Cutter called, tossing his Teddiursa's pokeball out onto the field, where his pokemon appeared, ready for battle.

Regina silently tossed her ball, a… Cutter wasn't entirely sure what it was. It had a black head, gray body, and red accents on its back. Cutter hoped he would get an answer when she called its name, but he was out of luck. "Sally, use smog and run!"

A poisonous purple gas spewed from the lizard like pokemon's mouth as it ran, circling Bellow. It was fast, Cutter noted. Not as fast as Bellow of course, but still fast nonetheless. And a poison type. Cutter didn't have long to ponder what kind of pokemon it was because he quickly caught onto what it was doing—making a circular wall of poisonous gas around Bellow.

"Swift! Blow it back." From Bellow's forehead came a flurry of golden stars, blowing a small portion of the smog away, but not nearly enough as Cutter would have liked. Cutter furrowed his brow as he contemplated what to do. Sally the whatever pokemon could run in and out of the smoke, and was. With each passing second she was making her circle tighter and tighter, closing in on Bellow.

"Bellow, swift at the… other pokemon." Bellow tried to aim a swift at it, but it was invisible in the cloud of smoke. It was camouflaged perfectly. "Dammit," Cutter cursed to himself. He had no idea what to do. The jeering of the crowd was getting to him, and the announcer was saying something but he couldn't tell what. He was falling apart. He really couldn't see any way out of this mess. He cursed himself again, angry at himself for failing Bellow. No, not only Bellow, but the rest of his team too. None of the rest of them would get to battle because he had taken too long to act.

Without instruction from Cutter, Bellow knelt to the ground, placing both paws on it and closing her eyes. Her ears twitched, she spun around and let out a swift without ever opening her eyes. She then charged into the smoke, against Cutter's "No!" and for a moment, there was nothing.

A few seconds later, Bellow and Sally rolled out of the smoke, slashing and snarling at each other, both viciously trying to get the upper hand. Cutter smiled even though Bellow looked worse for wear, as the poison had obviously begun to set in. Their training in the dark had paid off. Without it, Bellow probably would never have been able to locate the near invisible Sally.

"Get it back in the cloud and use flame burst Sally!" Regina's voice was shrill and seemed worried.

So it was a fire type too. Then Cutter realized what would happen if they got back into the smog. The fire would cause it to explode. There was no way that Bellow could survive something of that caliber.

"Bellow, Baby tears!" Suddenly, Bellow threw Sally to the side and widened her eyes and began to cry. Sally stopped moving and cocked her head in confusion, taking a much less defensive pose than before. Bellow then whipped her head, firing off a flurry of swifts from just a few feet away, throwing Sally backwards. Then, without Cutter's command, she threw herself forward and began slashing the lizard faster than Cutter had ever seen her move before. He was at a loss. She hadn't used agility, so how was she moving so quickly?

"Sally, flame burst!" A small of fire erupted from Sally's mouth that she then slammed right into Bellow's face. Or, she would have, if Bellow would have still been there. Bellow had feinted away, and the fireball had flown out into empty air. Before Sally knew what was happening, Bellow was back on her, slashing and throwing swifts.

Within a few seconds, the opposing pokemon had been defeated. Bellow climbed off of her opponent as the referee announced "Regina's Salandit is unable to battle. Teddiursa is the victor and therefore Cutter wins!"

As the crowd erupted into cheer and Cutter smiled, all he could think about was how good Bellow had done, and mostly on her own. She was truly starting to grow. Cutter made his way out of his battle box and over to her to congratulate her when she started to glow a blinding white.

Cutter knew what was happening and he tried to keep looking, but the overwhelming white overtook all of his sight and he had to close his eyes, for fear of being blinded. When he opened them, a much larger, and stronger version of a Teddiursa stood. Bellow had evolved into an Ursaring.

Whereas Bellow as a Teddiursa had barely reached his knee, Bellow as an Ursaring was the same height as him, if not a little shorter. Her previously cheerful face had a permanent scowl, but even through the scowl Cutter could tell that she was just as happy as he was. Instead of a crescent moon on her forehead, she now had a large golden ring on her chest and stomach. On her shoulders were tufts of fur that hung off, forming a protective fringe of sorts. She was muscular too. Cutter had known that Bellow was lean and strong as a Teddiursa, but now she was bulging with muscles. Even as muscular as she was now, though, she was still leaner than other evolved Ursaring. He could see her large circular tail hanging down slightly between her legs. What stood out the most, though, were the extremely long and sharp claws on her hands and feet. They glinted wickedly in the bright fluorescent light of the arena

Cutter smiled larger than he ever had and the crowd was cheering louder than he thought possible. This was incredible. He had seen his pokemon evolve. He might have missed Rillo's evolution, but he didn't miss this one. And he had never been more excited.

Bellow smiled at him, in a bear-like way, and Cutter rushed towards her. As he was making his way to her, she began to step towards him as well. She made it one step before Cutter watched as collapsed onto the ground in a heap. He stopped in his tracks and fumbled to pull her pokeball off his waist. After what seemed like an eternity to him, with the crowd having gone completely silent, he got it and returned her in a flash of red. He turned and began to run as fast as he could out of the arena.

Cutter sprinted to the front counter of the nearest Pokemon Center, which was conveniently only a block away. Still, when he got there he was out of breath. He had never run that fast or that hard in his life. As he approached the front counter, he saw many trainers, presumably from the tournament, staring at him. He didn't care. All he cared about was getting Bellow the help she needed.

"May I help—," the Nurse Joy on duty began to ask, before seeing Cutter's distraught figure. "What's wrong?" Her voice was urgent but calm.

Cutter thrust his hand out with Bellow's pokeball in it to the Nurse Joy. "My Teddiursa, I mean Ursaring, Bellow. Just evolved. But passed out. Right after, she fell. I think she's," Cutter struggled to get the words out, too worried about Bellow to form proper sentences. "Is she going? Help her?"

"Take some deep breaths. I'll take your," she paused at your, unsure of what pokemon she was dealing with, "pokemon, sir. Don't worry." As she walked way and into the back behind the front counter, she instructed the young lady sitting there, "Get his information and get him registered. I'll get started on this and send someone back with an update." Then she was gone into the back.

The young lady came around the counter and approached Cutter. "Sir, if I could get you to come with me to the front counter, I'll just need to get your Pokedex, if you have one, to get you registered with the Center."

Cutter walked to the front counter, still in a daze, handing her his Pokedex. She stared intently at the screen of the computer, sliding the Pokedex into a slot in the side of it. She paused for a moment before punching a few keys on the keyboard.

"Cutter Robinson. We've got you registered into our system. If you'd like to wait, someone will be out shortly to inform you of your Ursaring's status. If there is anything else that I can help you with, please let me know." Her voice was pleasant and calming, and Cutter found himself settling down.

Cutter swallowed a few deep breaths before speaking. "I'm in the tournament next door right now. I just won my battle, but I don't know when my next one is. Is there a way that you could phone over there to find out?" Cutter plead. "So that I don't miss it."

"Of course, sir. Give me just one moment." Riley, the receptionist's name was, picked up the phone on her desk and typed in a number. A moment later, "Yes, this is Riley at the Pokemon Center next to the GSC." She waited as someone on the other end spoke, but Cutter didn't know what they were saying. "We have one of your contestants here. One of his pokemon was injured in the last battle and is currently waiting for an update on it. Could I find out when his next battle will be?" Pause. "Yes, his name is Cutter Robinson." Another pause. "Thank you very much." She hung up the phone and turned to Cutter. "Mr. Robinson, there are sixteen battles in the next round, which starts at exactly 1 P.M. It is currently 12:30 P.M. You are the seventh battle, so he said it would be close to forty-five minutes until your next battle."

"Thank you," Cutter mumbled, still in shock at his pokemon collapsing in front of him. "How long until an update?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, another Nurse Joy, not the same one, based on her makeup, came from the back.

"Mr. Robinson?" she asked? Definitely not the same one. Her voice was much higher than the other one's voice.

"That's me," Cutter replied, stepping forward. He sounded a lot more confident than he felt.

"Your Ursaring is going to be okay. She had taken a considerable amount of damage from her battle, and the poison had certainly done its job well. Was that from a Salandit?"

Cutter nodded. Salandit. The announcer had said that name, but Cutter had been too excited at his comeback victory to notice.

"Things were only complicated by the evolution. Your Ursaring was still a bit younger when she evolved than the average Teddiursa. When she was poisoned, her ability, Quick Feet, increased her adrenaline levels, and since she took in so much poison, they soared past what they usually would. This, coupled with the victory, prompted her evolution. Ursaring are much, much bigger than Teddiursa, although yours is smaller than the average Ursaring. Genetics?"

Once again, Cutter just nodded. But he was starting to feel okay again. Nurse Joy number two had said that Bellow would be okay. Finally he found his voice. "As a Teddiursa she was smaller and faster. I talked to a couple people who said it was because she was from an environment where the Ursaring line wasn't the top of the food chain. They had to run away instead of fighting, unlike most of the Ursaring species."

"That's exactly right." She smiled. "You sure do know your stuff. Well, I'm going to leave you out here. Riley will take care of you." Nurse Joy bowed her head and exited the way she came in.

"Where are you staying this week, Mr. Robinson?" Riley questioned, sitting at the computer.

"One of the Pokemon Center's." Cutter bowed his head in shame. "I couldn't tell you which one. Not this one?"

"Not to worry. If you're staying in a Center, we can look you up. Would you like your Ursaring sent there once she is done being treated?"

"Oh. I was planning on waiting for her here," Cutter said, startled that she would even suggest that. He cared immensely for his pokemon and would never leave one alone like that.

"But you have a battle soon." Her voice was kind and she was obviously just reminding him, not trying to argue.

Cutter frowned. That was true. On one hand, he felt a certain sense of responsibility to stay with Bellow while she healed. On the other hand, he felt as if he owed it to her to continue battling in the tournament. She had worked so hard to get the victory for him. If he didn't go back and battle, she would be even more upset than if he didn't wait for her.

Cutter nodded and smiled. "You're right. Thank you so much." And Cutter walked out of the door and back to the GSC.

He walked into the GSC right as the second battle in his group was starting. He thought about going to watch the next couple of battles, but decided that he should prepare for his battle instead.

Larry was still at the front counter, Cutter saw, as he made his way to it. "I'm here to get my next opponent," Cutter told the kind old man.

"Oh yes, Mr. Robinson. What a victory you had last time. And your Teddiursa evolving. Is she okay?" Larry sounded actually concerned, not just the fake concern you sometimes heard in people who only were asking to be polite.

"Yes. Nurse Joy said she was going to recover nicely. I'm hoping she's better by tomorrow. Now that I've got an Ursaring I'm feeling super confident," Cutter smiled, thoughts of Bellow tearing opponents apart flashed in his mind.

"I'm sure she's going to be an excellent battler," Larry affirmed. "But about that next battle. Here you are, sir. Good luck to you." Cutter smiled, thanked the man, and made his way to waiting room "A."

His opponent was a boy that looked Cutter's age named Timothy Berger. As he sat in the waiting room, trainer after trainer was called until it was just him. Just like before, the GSC employee came and told him, "you're on deck," before leaving Cutter alone again.

Cutter had decided on Silver for this battle. He still wanted to save Nos, and Rillo wasn't ready. He no longer needed to hide his strongest pokemon, because Bellow was now the strongest on the team, even if it was only because of evolution. Even as Cutter struggled to focus on the battle at hand, his thoughts kept drifting to training with Bellow that night to get her used to her body so that she could battle the next day. Cutter remembered Rillo had some trouble adjusting to her bipedal form after evolution. It had taken a little work to get her walking on two legs, but Cutter knew that Bellow would adapt in no time.

He forced himself back to the battle that would soon be happening and released Silver. "You're up, Silver. We won our first battle. Now there's only thirty-one trainer's left to beat. You ready?"

Silver affirmed with a familiar "larv," and started moving about, trying to get warm for the upcoming battle. Cutter thought about telling Silver that Bellow had evolved, but ultimately decided against it. There would be time after the battle. News like that would just serve as a distraction to Silver, anyways. Cutter wanted Silver to be on the top of his game.

After what felt like forever, the employee reappeared to lead Cutter onto the field. It was the same field as before, plain dirt. That would work in Silver's advantage. He saw his opponent, who was much taller than the picture led him to believe, crossing to his battle box as well.

The announcer was back, of course. "On one end of the field we have Cutter Robinson from Cherrygrove Town. He pulled off an impressive victory last time. Will he be able to do it again?" The crowd roared, obviously remembering Cutter's narrow victory and evolved Ursaring.

"On the other end of the field," the announcer continued, "we have Timothy Berger from New Bark Town. He won his last battle decisively in less than two minutes. Can Cutter provide a bigger challenge this round?" Cutter swallowed and realized that this was the trainer the attendant had told him about right before his first battle. Suddenly, the Butterfree were back in his stomach, stronger than before.

The referee began his speech again, but Cutter zoned out of it. He started to focus on the battle, getting into the zone, pushing Timothy Berger out of his mind. All Cutter heard was "begin" and Cutter released Silver from his pokeball. The same moment that Silver hit the ground, so did Timothy's pokemon, a Quilava. Cutter smiled. Quilava was pure fire type, which was very weak to Silver's ground and rock typing. It seemed like Timothy wasn't too worried about it though, if his grin was anything to go by.

"Smokescreen Q," he called out nonchalantly, as a thick black smoke flowed from Quilava's mouth and onto the battlefield.

 _Great,_ Cutter thought, _two smoke battles in a row_. "Sandstorm!"

Immediately everything on the field was invisible from a mix of the roaring sandstorm and the thick black smokescreen.

"Flame charge!" Cutter heard Timothy call out over the din of the sandstorm. Cutter couldn't see the fire within the storm, but Cutter knew that Quilava probably couldn't see Silver either. _Why?_ Cutter asked himself, then immediately had an answer. _To speed himself up_.

"Rocky sand," Cutter said quietly, hoping Silver could hear him. They had worked on Silver's hearing within sandstorm, but Cutter knew that at some point Silver would use the combo on his own. He just hoped that it would be sooner rather than later. Like now, for example.

Cutter smiled when he heard a yelp come from within the sandstorm that didn't belong to Silver. Then, much to Cutter's surprise, the sandstorm died down. When it cleared a few seconds later and both pokemon were visible, Cutter saw that Silver looked much worse for wear than expected. He had taken a lot of damage during that time. Quilava didn't look great either, though.

"Rock throw!"

"Flamethrower!"

The commands came at the same time, and while Cutter expected the giant rock throw that Silver created to fly straight through the encroaching flamethrower, that was only partially what happened. While the rock throw did go through the flamethrower, the flamethrower also went around the rock throw. They both hit their targets, but it looked like Quilava had taken more damage than Silver had.

"Rock tomb!" Silver slammed his fist into the ground, shaking off the effects of the flamethrower, and a giant spire of rock appeared right where the Quilava had just been. Its boosted speed from flame charge allowed it to sprint away from the rock tomb and towards Silver before the rock tomb had a chance to hit.

Silver prepared another rock throw and just as Q reached Silver, Silver slammed the rock throw into Q. But Q did something unexpected. The Quilava spun around and kicked the rock, shattering it upon impact. Then Q kicked again, slamming its foot right into Silver's face, sending him flying backwards. Double kick.

Silver landed hard, and Q sped towards him, Cutter supposed to get another double kick in.

"Get up, Silver!" Cutter plead. "You can do it." But Silver was not getting up, and Q was closing in. Suddenly, another spire of rock shot up right underneath Quilava, sending him flying. Cutter cheered and pumped his arms as Silver pushed himself up. _Silver you devious Larvitar. Pretending to be too weak to get up. That's my boy._

Silver began shooting up spires of rock all over the Silver's near vicinity. At first Cutter thought they were random, but then Cutter realized that Silver had set them up very specifically. They were placed so that Quilava wouldn't be able to build up enough speed to catch Silver off guard. And since Silver could feel the vibration of the earth, there would be no sneaking around for Quilava either. Cutter smiled and shook his head at Silver's genius idea.

"Double kick!"

This time, Silver was ready and had two rocks ready, each blocking a separate kick. Then, as soon as Quilava landed, a tower of rock shot out of the ground, throwing the Quilava higher than before.

Q landed hard and didn't get back up.

"Timothy's Quilava is unable to battle," the referee yelled, his mic'ed voice booming over the crowd. "Larvitar is the winner and therefore Cutter is the victor."

Cutter smiled and ran out to congratulate his Larvitar. In his chest there was a slight hope for another unexpected evolution, but Cutter knew that realistically it was still several weeks until Silver was ready to pupate. And deep down, Cutter didn't think he could handle another complication with evolution. Bellow's was already scary enough.

Cutter introduced the newly evolved Bellow to the team, and they all squealed and whinnied and jumped for joy. Except for Silver. Silver wasn't unhappy about it, but he also wasn't happy.

Cutter had led him away from the rest of the team while they got acquainted with their newly evolved friend. He knelt down to Silver's level and paused. When Silver didn't say anything, he did. "What's up?" Still nothing from Silver. "Are you gonna talk to me?" That time Silver looked his trainer in the eye. That was a start, Cutter figured. "Is it because Bellow evolved?" There was a slight pause before Silver nodded. "Why? Rillo evolved and you were fine." Silver shrugged, but Cutter was pretty sure he already knew all the answers.

"Rillo doesn't threaten you. You have a type advantage. Plus, you're stronger. But Bellow is way bigger than you now. You feel like you aren't the protector." Silver made eye contact again and nodded.

Cutter pulled Silver in close before continuing. "Hey. You know what that means? That just means you're going to have to work that much harder. And if anyone can do it, it's you. Plus, you're only a couple weeks from evolving. You'll catch up in no time." Cutter smiled at his starter and rubbed him behind his horn. That elicited a contented rumble and they pressed horn to forehead. Silver would be fine.

Cutter smiled as Silver ran back to the cluster of pokemon. They were all talking in pokespeech and Cutter had no idea what they were saying. It was happy though, because he could feel Nostradamus radiating pure joy. Even without the empathy, Cutter would have known they were all happy. He smiled and jogged to join his team.

They had just finished a feast of a dinner in honor of their two victories that day, and Cutter took Bellow out for some individual training time. As they were walking onto the training plot, Cutter heard a high pitched, feminine voice from behind him. "Good job today. You really showed me up." Cutter spun around to find Regina standing behind him. She was taller than he realized. He had only seen her across the battle plot. She was also much prettier than her picture led Cutter to believe. Maybe it was because she carried herself with an air of confidence.

"You sure did give me a run for my money. I had no idea how to get out of that ring of smog," Cutter smiled, reliving the awesome battle he had had earlier that day.

"That was awfully brave of your Teddiursa to run straight into it. Well, anyways, I just wanted to say congratulations to you." As she turned away, Cutter had a thought.

"Hey, would you like to travel together?" The words were out of his mouth before he knew what she was saying.

"Hm. I'll have to think about it. I just met you today," then after a moment she continued, "but you obviously care immensely about your pokemon, so there's no way you could be a bad person." She winked and walked away, leaving Cutter standing there without a definite answer and no idea why he had asked her.

He turned and walked onto the practice plot, releasing Bellow. This was the first time they had been alone since her evolution. For a moment, there was silence. Then Bellow threw her arms behind her and roared, startling Cutter so badly he fell backwards onto his butt. After a second he started laughing, and soon after Bellow joined in as well.

"I'm so proud of you," he said, standing. "You did great. And you went into that battle mostly by yourself. You're really growing." Cutter reached up and scratched between her ears, just where she liked it. It was a little harder than before since she had grown so much, but not impossible. She leaned into the scratch, her permanent snarl turning into as much of a smile as it could.

"I checked you out on the Pokedex and it looks like you learned a new move," Cutter smiled, eager to test out Bellow's newfound strength. Upon evolution, Bellow had learned rest and snore. There was no real way for Cutter to test those out now, so close to bedtime and with Bellow being perfectly healthy. For the time being they would just work on getting used to her size.

After about an hour, Cutter was satisfied with the progress she had made. It took the better part of thirty minutes for her to get used to her size, and then the other thirty minutes to truly master it, but she had done it. If Cutter thought she had been fast before, that was nothing compared to the speed she was showing then. Not to mention the raw power she now possessed. Even if she wasn't as strong as other, bigger Ursaring, she still packed a punch. He smiled as he thought about the havoc she could wreak the next day.

As Cutter laid down to sleep, things had changed for Bellow. She slept curled up in a ball on the floor instead of on the pillow next to Cutter. For the first time in a while, Cutter slept alone. As he looked around at his team and drifted off, he couldn't help but be proud.

The next day went by in a flash. When he got to the GSC that morning, he had to register which pokemon he would use in the first battle. Then, if he won, he would come back and register the two pokemon he would use in the second battle. That was so the trainers battled using skill instead of going off of pure type advantage. So if Cutter registered Rillo and Silver for battle one, but Rillo lost to a grass type, Cutter had to send out Silver, even if he didn't want to because of the type disadvantage.

Cutter won both of his battles with relative ease. Cutter had expected the round of sixteen and the quarterfinals to be more difficult, but he supposed he couldn't complain. He was only two battles away from winning his first tournament.

The first battle had been against a boy named Ryan, who had used a Meowth and a Raichu that had been evolved far too early. Rillo had taken out the Meowth without a problem, but could do nothing against the Raichu. Cutter really needed to teach her some non-electric attacking moves. He had then brought out Silver, wanting to save Bellow for a later battle. He wasn't trying to hide her, per se, but he wasn't trying to show her off to the world either. Silver then took down the Raichu in a matter of seconds. It wasn't very well trained, and the type advantage was just a lucky break for Cutter.

His battle in the quarterfinals had given him slightly more trouble, but not much. His opponent was from Goldenrod and the crowd roared louder than they had for Regina.

He had used Nostradamus, much to the shock and awe of the crowd, and Silver again. Nostradamus had easily taken out an opposing Gloom, but had fallen to an especially well trained Ditto that had transformed into Girafarig. Once Nos fell, Cutter did as well, but once he got Nos in the pokeball, he felt immensely better. Fortunately, once Cutter had sent in Silver, the Ditto was stuck as Girafarig. Silver kept up a constant barrage of sandstorm, used rock tomb a few times, and wrapped it up with bite. It was a quick finish from there. Silver never disappointed.

Cutter smiled as his team settled in for the night. He was immensely proud of them, and he knew that they would do their best tomorrow. Even though they would be battling in front of roughly twenty-five thousand people, he wouldn't' let the nerves get to him. His pokemon hadn't let him down, and he didn't plan on letting them down. He fell asleep thinking about battle strategies and winning his first tournament.

xx

 **Hey guys! I was super excited to get this chapter out! This was a fun one to write and I was happy to get these battles. Let me know if you have any thoughts, and I'm excited to get the next chapter out! As usual, let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas!**


	7. The Tournament, part 3

Cutter stepped away from the front desk, having just registered his three pokemon for the semifinals. As he was walking towards the "B" waiting room, his battle would be the second, he heard a familiar voice call his name. Turning, he saw Terrance approaching.

"Hey, Terrance!" Cutter greeted his friend, smiling.

"Hey! I know that you're battling soon, but I wanted to wish you good luck. You made it a lot farther than I did." Terrance remarked sheepishly, bowing his head slightly.

Cutter was ready to get to the waiting room, but he really wanted to know how far in the tournament his friend had made it. Eventually, curiosity won out over his desire to get to the waiting room. He still had time before the first battle began. Plus, they were three on three battles, so they would take a little time. "How far did you make it?"

Cutter bowed his head sheepishly. "I made it to the round of sixteen. Once we needed more than just one pokemon, I lost. My other pokemon are still catching up. I used Elekid for the first two rounds." Cutter could have figured that. "Well, I'll let you go. Good luck. I'm rooting for you."

Cutter smiled and thanked him and turned to make his way to the waiting room, but he didn't make it far. Another voice, a female's voice this time, came from behind him. "Cutter! Hold up!"

Cutter spun around and saw Regina hurrying towards him. a small white pokemon that looked incredibly like a Vulpix beside her. "Hey Regina!" Cutter's eyes settled at the small white pokemon that looked incredibly like a Vulpix at her feet. "Is that an albino Vulpix?" Cutter asked, leaning down to look at the little pokemon.

"This Vulpix is an Alolan Vulpix. She's pure ice type instead of fire. The Vulpix line were brought to Alola several hundred years ago by some settlers from Kanto. When they got to Alola the settlers took up residence at the base of Mount Hokulani, Alola's largest mountain. Even at the base, this area is incredibly cold, so the Vulpix and Ninetales adapted. I just caught Keokeo here a few months ago, so I don't know as much about the adaptation of fire to ice type. She was the first pokemon I caught before I came to Johto, after I got my starter Sally of course." Cutter nodded and reached out to pet the Alolan Vulpix, who shied away from him. "She's very shy. And you're scary looking, so that doesn't help your case either." She chuckled as Cutter's face grew red with embarrassment. "But anyways, that's not what I'm here to talk about." Cutter stood up, interested to hear what she had to say. "I just wanted to wish you the best of luck out there. And I've decided to take you up on your offer to travel through Johto. We can discuss the specifics later, but for now go win your battles." She smiled at him and Cutter felt himself begin to blush even more than he was before. "Not because I like you or anything, but since you beat me, if you win, that means that I could have gotten second, if you wouldn't have knocked me out," she told him with a playful shove.

"Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, I'll, um. Yeah come find me after my battles today and we can talk. For sure." Cutter turned and hurried away, his face flush, trying to avoid making a bigger fool of himself than he already had.

Cutter pushed the roars of the crowd of over twenty thousand people out of his mind as he tossed out Silver's pokeball onto the field. He couldn't let them get to him. He had made it this far and wasn't planning on losing because of some distraction.

On the opposite side of the grassy field a Psyduck appeared. It cocked its orange head to the side as if confused and Cutter frowned. Psyduck was a water type, and Silver unfortunately had a double weakness to water types. Until Silver evolved into a Tyranitar, he wouldn't have the water double weakness. Upon evolution, she would get a double weakness to fighting types.

Cutter didn't have much time to think about his pokemon's weakness because his opponent, Samson, called out for Psyduck to use water gun.

"Sandstorm!" Cutter called out. "Move in!" Soon the whole field was covered in the swirling sands of a sandstorm, hiding the battlers. Cutter wanted to end this quickly. If the Psyduck got off a good water type attack, it would be all but over.

"Confusion!"

"Crap," Cutter murmured. He had forgotten that most Psyduck contained a psychic gene, allowing them to telekinetic abilities, albeit weakly. Cutter's frown grew as the sandstorm stopped suddenly and Silver was lifted from the battlefield, engulfed in a pink and purple coating of the psychic energy.

"Rock throw!" Cutter shouted, desperate for any way to get Silver out of it. If he was in the psy energy for too long the battle would be far too quickly. He saw Silver struggle to form the rock throw, but nothing came.

"Water gun!" The other trainer was grinning wildly, thinking he had this in the bag. The psy energy disappeared from around Silver and as he fell, a highly pressurized burst of water slammed into him, throwing him back. He landed hard, but got back up immediately. He didn't look too much worse for wear, albeit some heavy breathing.

"Rock tomb, the get in close and rock throw," Cutter said. A large chunk of rock appeared underneath the Psyduck, throwing it into the air before it had a chance to react. Silver then ran towards the falling Psyduck, forming a large rock in its hand as it ran.

"Confusion!" The other trainer cried out, desperate to get the battle going his way again. A wave of psy energy launched from the Psyduck's head, engulfing Silver just as the rock left him. The psy energy wasn't strong enough to stop the rock throw though, and Silver was released immediately as the rock slammed into Psyduck, knocking him backwards.

"Get up Psyduck!" The other trainer shouted worried. Cutter smiled. Even with a type disadvantage, Cutter felt a swell of hope rise up in his chest.

"Wrap this up with mega punch!" Cutter called as Psyduck pushed itself to its feet. Silver leapt at it, launching his fist at Psyduck's head, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

"Disable!" In that moment, Silver froze. He no longer could use mega punch. Cutter didn't really understand disable, but he knew that this was bad.

"Get out of there!" Cutter screamed, mind racing. He had no idea of what to do. Silver went to step away, but Psyduck fired a water gun from point blank range straight into the face of Silver, who went down immediately.

Cutter's next option was a no brainer. "Rillo!" he called out as she appeared on the field. "Charge Beam! Stay back and build up electricity." Rillo's tail glowed and from it shot a small but concentrated beam of electricity straight towards the Psyduck.

"Water gun!" The pressurized blast of water met the charge beam, but it didn't end the way the other trainer wanted it to. The charge beam leapt up the water, which acted as a conductor, and hit the Psyduck, blasting it back.

Rillo launched another charge beam, not giving Psyduck time to get up. Rillo's aim was spot on, and the Psyduck didn't get up again, instead disappearing in a flash of red light.

Appearing next on the field was an Ivysaur, which bared its teeth threateningly at Rillo, who in turn crackled with electricity. Cutter bit his lip in thought and racked his brain. Rillo had no attacks that could actually hurt the Ivysaur. Electric attacks did next to nothing. Ivysaur's grass typing gave it a natural protection against electricity.

"Take down!" The Ivysaur sprinted towards Rillo, moving much faster than Cutter might expect from a pokemon as bulky as Ivysaur.

"Thunder Wave." If Rillo couldn't hurt it, she might as well debilitate it. She launched a small burst of electricity from her tail at the Ivysaur that was quickly closing in. The weak electric attack hit Ivysaur, causing it to stumble, giving Rillo enough time to leap backwards and fire a charge beam straight into the bulb of Ivysaur.

Ivysaur launched a razor leaf at Rillo, the flurry of razor sharp leaves striking her, causing her to cry out a pained "laaa.".

"Electric terrain!" Rillo rose, bring with her a coating of electricity over the ground as she did. The electricity spread out around her ten feet in every direction, crackling and jumping around her. "Now charge beam!" The charge beam that left her tail was the biggest Cutter had ever seen it. She had the boost from the previous two charge beams and the electric terrain helping her. The charge beam slammed into Ivysaur, eliciting a pained whine. Still, it wasn't enough.

"Ivysaur, use sleep powder!"

Cutter's face whitened at that command. If Rillo fell asleep, she was done. "Flash and run!" Cutter cried, just as the Ivysaur was shaking its bulb, releasing a cloud of sleep inducing spores. A blinding white light flowed from Rillo's body, reminding Cutter of Bellow's evolution. Then he shielded his eyes from the light.

When he opened them again, Rillo was behind the blinded Ivysaur, firing off charge beam after charge beam at its exposed back.

"Vine whip, behind you!" Since the field was grass, the Ivysaur was able to use its natural typing to tell where Rillo was standing. Six vines sprung from underneath Ivysaur's bulb, reaching out and grabbing Rillo by each limb. The other two began mercilessly slapping her, eliciting pained cries from his pokemon.

"Thundershock!" Rillo released a surge of electricity from her body that traveled halfway down the vines of Ivysaur before dying down. The insulative traits of the vines didn't allow the weak electric attack to travel the length of the vines.

Cutter returned Rillo as Ivysaur dropped her back to the ground, walking weakly back to its side. Cutter smiled at Rillo's pokeball. She may not have won, but she did much better than Cutter expected her to. He kissed her pokeball and clipped it back to his waist. He tossed Bellow's ball out, the Hibernator pokemon appearing on the field, roaring loudly. "UROAAAAA."

 _My strongest pokemon._ Cutter smiled. It was time to get serious. "Agility, use swift as you run." Bellow fell onto all fours, sprinting into a blur. Glowing stars flew from wherever she was at the moment, but she was long gone whenever Ivysaur's razor leaves hit where she had been moments before. She was entirely too fast for Ivysaur to keep up with, and she knew it too. At that point she was just playing with the weakened Ivysaur. _Time to finish this_.

"Slash." All Cutter saw was the Ivysaur fall and Bellow appear back on his side of the field. He was incredibly proud of how fast she had gotten with evolution. Where she had been fast as a Teddiursa, that level of speed couldn't even compare to where she was now. She hadn't taken any damage at all against Ivysaur either. Even though Cutter had been trailing the entire battle, they were on even playing field for the final round.

The other trainer returned his Ivysaur and released a Yanma on the field. Its transparent wings tipped with red buzzed, flapping over six hundred times per second. This would be a battle of speed. Yanma weren't very sturdy though, so if Bellow could get a hit off, the battle would be as good as his.

"Agility," both trainers called at the same time. Both Yanma and Bellow blurred into near invisibility, racing around the battle plot. Occasionally a sonic boom from Yanma or Swift from Ursaring would fly out seemingly at random, each testing the other.

"Bug Buzz!" Suddenly, the sound of Yanma's wings increased tenfold. Bellow stopped immediately, falling out of her agility. She fell to her knees, clutching her head with her paws, desperately trying to keep out the awful noise. Cutter grimaced at the noise as well. He had thought Bellow would be safe with her speed, but bug buzz was a move that could cause damage over a widespread area. It wasn't incredibly strong and wouldn't take Bellow out, but it did stop her in her tracks.

Cutter grimaced and tried to come up with a solution. _If only the Yanma would get in close. Bellow would be fast enough to catch it._

"Aerial ace, triple!"

"Get ready with a mega punch! You'll have to be fast!" The night after Bellow evolved, Cutter figured that it was time she learned Mega punch, so he used the TM and they used some of their time perfecting it. Cutter knew that if this hit, that would be it. There was no way a Yanma could stand up to a mega punch from Bellow.

Cutter tensed as Bellow swung at what seemed to be nothing. He had nothing to worry about because there was a loud crack and Yanma crashed to the ground, knocked out. Cutter looked up at Bellow, grinning from ear to ear. Bellow roared, beating her chest.

He made his way to her and hugged his pokemon, pulling her in close. She returned the gesture and Cutter smiled up at her. He pulled away and shook his opponents hand, thanked them for a good battle, then rubbed Bellow on the forehead.

"Come on girl. Let's get you to the Pokemon Center. We're going to need you for the finals."

Thirty minutes later and Cutter was in the crowd watching for the first time since the first day. He had just returned from getting his pokemon rested up and caught the very end of the other two badge semifinals. Just as he sat down an Eevee was knocked out by an opposing Graveler. The crowd went wild and the announcer congratulated the winning trainer.

"Congratulations to our second semifinal victor of the day, Miss Lacy Fortin. She will be facing Cutter Robinson in the finals later this evening!" Cutter's ears perked up at his name and he smiled slightly. He was ready for the intense battle.

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a flash. He watched six other semifinal battles, only getting up once to use the restroom. Silver sat out with him and seemed just as engrossed as his trainer.

There were some incredible battles. For the six and eight badge trainers, the semifinals and finals were six on six battles, so Cutter got to see some super strong pokemon, several of which Cutter decided he wanted on his team. These included a Gogoat, Metagross, Bisharp, Gallade, and, most of all, a pokemon he had never seen before, but his Pokedex had informed him that it was called "Druddigon." It was a dragon type from the Unova region, and Cutter decided then and there that he just had to have one.

There was an hour break in between the final semifinal battle and the first final battle, Cutter's. The hour flew by and before he knew it he was walking out onto the field, the pure white of Nostradamus' premier ball glinting in the harsh light of the arena's spotlights.

"Nos!" Cutter called out as his pure white Girafarig appeared on the field. The crowd roared, never getting tired of seeing such a rare pokemon. "This is the finals. Be ready!" Nos acknowledged him with his tail end head nodding. A flood of anxiety muddled with excitement flooded his body, and he couldn't tell if it was his feelings or those of Nos. He figured it was both.

Lacy released her first pokemon as well, a Graveler. Cutter bit his lip and pondered how to counter this. It was big and strong and had excellent defenses.

The referee shouted for them to begin, and Cutter waited, allowing for Lacy to make the first move. It seemed, however, that she had the same idea in mind. For a moment, there was nothing, but Cutter was far too impatient for this sort of battle. He was all about going.

"Confusion!"

"Magnitude!"

Magnitude was strange as far as the usually straight forward ground type moves went. Its power varied each time it was used. Sometimes it could be as strong as earthquake, other times it wouldn't even cause the opponent to stumble. Cutter could only hope it was nearer to the bottom end of that scale as Graveler jumped into the air and came crashing down. A tremor spread across the field and Nos struggled to stay standing, using confusion forgotten.

"Hypnosis!"

"Reeeiiiiiiii," Girafarig hummed, mixed with a variation of confusion, Graveler's eyes began to droop.

"Stay awake!" At the sound of its trainer's voice, Graveler's eyes struggled to open, but Nos didn't let up. He hadn't expected it to fall asleep so easily, but Cutter would take what he could get.

"Now get in close and confusion!"

Nos galloped in and fired a confusion from close range, coating the large rock and ground type in the psy energy. Lacy was screaming nonstop at her Graveler to get up, but eventually the referee called out that Graveler was unable to battle.

Her next pokemon was pink and fat. Lickitung. Cutter had never seen one in person before, but this one was just as ugly as the ones he had seen online.

"Wrap!"

A long pink tongue arbok'ed out from Lickitung's mouth, quickly making its way to Nos.

"Dazzling gleam!"

Nos shot a bright pink burst of energy at the tongue, but it slid out of the way each time the move got close to it. A different strategy would have to be employed.

Cutter waited for a second for the tongue to get closer before calling out, "crunch!"

Just as the tongue reached Nos, Nos chomped down on it, dark type energy flowing from his mouth.

"Liiii," the Lickitung cried out in pain, its tongue obviously a very sensitive part of its body.

"Slam!"

Lickitung's tongue lengthened even more, wrapping itself around Nos's front two legs. It proceeded to lift Nos into the air before slamming it back down.

"Confusion!"

Cutter was hoping that the psychic attack would help soften the blow, if only a little bit.

Nos struggled to stand as Lickitung's tongue reentered its mouth. Cutter had never seen his pure white pokemon knocked out of breath like that, but he was sure he knew what it felt like, considering he was feeling it as well.

Cutter expected there to be a lull in the battle as the two pokemon regained their footing, but Lickitung's tongue whipped out and slammed into Nos faster than he would have thought possible. Nos fell again, this time barely returning to his feet.

"Hypnosis!"

"Reeeeiiiiii," Nos cried out again as soft psychic waves left her horns. Lacy didn't fall for the same trick twice.

"Double slap on yourself! Stay awake no matter what!" As the normal type slapped itself to stay awake, Nos slowly made his way towards Lickitung. _If Nos gets in close enough, Lickitung won't be able to properly utilize his tongue._

"Dazzling gleam!" A bright pink burst of energy shot from between Nos's horns, striking Lickitung right in between its eyes. It stumbled, but held its ground.

"Wrap again!"

"Confusion, catch the tongue!"

Both Lickitung and its trainer were surprised when Nos's confusion stopped the tongue in midair, and try as Lickitung may, it couldn't gain control of it.

"Now, zen headbutt!"

Nos galloped forward, holding the tongue until the last possible second. Right before he struck Lickitung, he let go of the tongue and transferred the psychic type energy to his forehead. Lickitung stumbled backwards, but Nos didn't let up. He reared onto his hind legs, stomping down on Lickitung's head, rendering him unconscious.

Cutter wanted to smile, but couldn't. He was in the finals and he still had all three of his pokemon left while his opponent only had one. _Don't get cocky. This battle isn't over._

But it basically was over. Lacy released a Grimer that Nos quickly took down. Psychic types are super effective against poison types. Generally poison pokemon had some kind of defense against psychic types, but this one's defense, shadow sneak, a ghost type move, was ineffective against Nos due to his normal typing.

As the Grimer fell within two minutes of being released, the crowd lost it. Cutter had won the finals using only Nostradamus. He cheered and ran out to meet his pokemon, wrapping Nos up in a hug. Warmth and joy flooded Cutter's body as his pokemon returned the hug through emotions.

Lacy approached him, offering him her hand. "Great battle. You sure are something." Her voice was shaky and there was a tear in her eye. She was upset and probably embarrassed. She had lost in the finals without taking down a single of her opponent's pokemon. Cutter could only imagine how badly that must sting.

He truly didn't understand how it had happened, though. Cutter had more trouble the round before in the semifinals than he did in the finals. Was it him or was it Lacy? He'd have to ask Regina what she thought of the battle. She would have an outsider opinion.

"Thank you," Cutter smiled, taking her hand and shaking it. "Congratulations on making it this far." She smiled at him and spun and walked away. Cutter turned back to Nos, scratching him between his horns as they walked off of the field.

Cutter spent the rest of the day watching the finals seated next to Regina. They didn't talk much except to comment on the pokemon being used. They were getting dinner that night after the closing ceremonies so they would talk then about their travel plans. Cutter was happy to see that Druddigon was used in the finals. It knocked out a Blastoise and a Pidgeot before finally being taken down by an exceptionally large Hitmonlee. The Druddigon's trainer, Stan, won the battle though, so Cutter was happy.

That night, Cutter stepped onto the podium with his team standing on the ground around him. He accepted both the TM Voucher for Goldenrod Department Store and the cheers of the crowd. Cutter smiled and stepped to the side as the other trainers accepted their prizes as well. The eight-gym badge winner, Stan, got a pokemon egg. Cutter just stared with envy as the trainer of the Druddigon held the pure black egg in his hands. Not to mention that the Druddigon was also only a mere fifteen feet from where Cutter was. He could barely contain his excitement.

Once Stan, the last one to be rewarded, received his prize, the crowd cheered one final time for everyone, and all the winners walked off of the field and off their separate ways.

It was only about 9 P.M. when Cutter met back up with Regina, so they decided to get dinner and discuss what the future held in store for them.

They walked into a local café right down the street from the Pokemon Center they were staying in and took a seat at a booth by the window; they ordered from a kind waitress who recognized Cutter from the tournament.

"So, what made you decide to travel with me?" Cutter asked, rubbing Silver, who was sitting in the booth beside him, behind the horn, eliciting a contented growl from him.

"Did you not hear about the group of poachers that got caught in Ilex Forest the other day? They took down a colossal Girafarig and were caught trying to transport it," she admitted.

The color drained from Cutter's face. Praagh's warning. He had told Cutter to be in Goldenrod in five days. "How many days ago?" Cutter murmured.

"Are you okay?" Regina questioned, reaching across the table to take his hand.

"Yeah. I'm fine. When did that happen?"

"Umm, two days before the tournament started? But I only saw it on the news last night. Why?" She looked concerned, but Cutter didn't know her well enough to trust her with this kind of information, not yet anyways.

 _The day after I got into Goldenrod. Praagh was taken down. He knew._ Cutter glanced up at her, "It's nothing."

"It's obviously something, and if we're going to be traveling together, you've got to trust me." She stared him down, not relenting, so after a moment of silence, Cutter let up. _She does have a point._

So Cutter recounted the story of Praagh and Nostradamus in full detail. All the while, Regina just sat there, listening patiently and attentively. When he got to the end, she didn't say anything for a moment.

"So it's especially important that you travel with someone, then. Safety in numbers, that sort of thing?"

Cutter nodded. "Yeah. I'm not strong enough or experienced enough to properly protect Nos yet. And as rare as he is, I'm worried someone's going to come after him." He paused, then continued, "especially after winning the finals single handedly today. Even though it was the lowest level of the tournament, something like that just shouldn't happen."

"You're right about that," she conceded. "But he has a natural ability and knack for battle. You were in the heat of the battle the whole time, but I saw the battle from a different angle, and on the big screen. Nos knew what he was doing. Right before that magnitude hit, he used a confusion to lift himself off the ground. He then put a Graveler to sleep. Graveler are heavy and require a lot of energy to be put to sleep. Then he, a Girafarig who is only a year old, max, caught the tongue of a Lickitung. The tongue is their strongest muscle and when properly trained is as strong as a Rhyhorn. Do you understand how powerful your Girafarig has the potential to be? And how strong it already is? You're a dolt if you don't." She smirked, teasing him, it seemed, came naturally to her.

Cutter just sat there, a faint smile playing at the edges of his mouth. He hadn't realized those things. His mind raced, thinking of all of the ways that Nostradamus would be able to assist them in battle.

"So, where do you plan on going from here?"

"I want to challenge the Goldenrod Gym in two days. I want to give my team the day off tomorrow. They've earned it. But from there, I'm going to Saffron. A breeder told me that Sabrina, the gym leader there, would be able to help me with Nostradamus. She specializes in psychic types and I'm confident that she'll know what to do. Then, there's a bug catching contest in the National Forest just north of here in two weeks that I wanted to participate in." Cutter paused, realizing that he had essentially just laid out what they would be doing for the next two weeks. He could only hope that Regina would agree to it.

"Well, I certainly can't argue your point about giving your team the day off. I think I'll challenge the gym tomorrow. That way we can leave for Saffron as soon as your gym match is complete. Saffron will be quite fun. I was only in the Kanto region for a short time. My ship landed there from Alola, then immediately I took a plane to Mahogany. It will be fun to explore their largest city. And I certainly cannot argue about the Bug Catching Contest. I as well saw the flier and wanted to participate. My team is lacking in both Johto and bug type pokemon."

Just then, two petite ladies came and sat next to them. They both had brown hair pulled back into tight buns and their muscles bulged through their form fitting long sleeve shirts. Even though they were small, they wore mean scowls and didn't look like they wanted to eat dinner with Cutter and Regina. They had other plans.

"Can we help you?" Regina asked, shooting them a dirty look.

"We don't care about you," the older of the two asked, not even looking at Regina. They were both staring at Cutter. "We want your Girafarig." At that, Silver started growling, a low rumbling building up in his belly.

"What the hell?" Cutter asked incredulously, putting his arm around Silver to stop him from getting out of hand. Silver was very protective and he didn't want things to go further than they had to. Here were two women, confronting him in public, in the middle of a diner no less.

"You heard her," the other woman said. "We want your Girafarig. We saw your battle air today, and we saw that Girafarig of yours win the finals all by itself. Now, give us the Girafarig and we'll go."  
"Look, you two need-," Regina started, before she was cut off.

"If the girl speaks again, things will get ugly." Cutter noticed that they both had pokeballs in hand. He had no idea how strong they were, and he didn't know if two trainers with four gym badges between the two of them could hold them off long enough for police to get there.

Luckily, they had nothing to worry about. Just as cutter was about to speak again, a pair of police officers walked through the door and sat at the booth next to them.

"We're watchin' you," the younger of the two said in a hushed tone as they got up and exited the diner. Cutter felt chills go down his spine as he pulled Silver in closer to him.

"Well. Good thing we're leaving the region soon. It'll get you and your Girafarig off of people's radars for a while."

Cutter just nodded and poked at his hash browns while Silver devoured his eggs. He knew having Nostradamus would lead to some sort of trouble, but he didn't think people would just approach him in the middle of a public place. Somehow, Cutter didn't think that protecting Nos would be easier if they left the region.

xx

 **Hey! The finals! Hope this chapter lived up to any and all expectations! Nostradamus has come a long way and still has a long way to go. Let's hope Cutter can keep him safe.**

 **Lately, I have been wanting someone to proof read my chapters before I post them. This would entail reading them and pointing out any grammar or spelling mistakes, if anything is confusing, and just suggestions on how to make the chapter better in general. If anyone would be interested in being my "editor," Private Message me! Thanks, you guys rock!**


	8. Plain

The National Park was only a thirty-minute's bus ride from the northernmost exit of Goldenrod, and Cutter wanted to give his team time to rest and relax. The National Park was also considered to be the safest park in all of Kanto or Johto, so Cutter was feeling okay about taking his team out. And they wouldn't have to walk, so the extra safety of public transportation made him feel better about their adventure out of the city.

Regina was challenging the gym and as much as Cutter wanted to watch, he wanted to give his pokemon a treat even more. Regina didn't mind at all. She was happy with having one more day apart before they started spending almost all of their time together.

Cutter lay sprawled out in the grass on a hillside, Silver and Rillo running around a few yards from where he was. Bellow was curled up next to him, napping in the warmth of the sunlight, and Rillo was whinnying as he watched Rillo and Silver play. Cutter smiled. Silver was usually so uptight, and he was happy to see his starter laughing and playing.

He had been doing a lot of reading on the evolution of Larvitar to Pupitar and he had garnered some valuable information. He learned that since Silver was set to evolve soon, his body was naturally wanting to force off a lot of excess energy, hence the playing. Once Silver pupated, he wouldn't be able to move inside of his cocoon. The last thing a Larvitar wanted prior to evolution was to have excess energy stored up and not be able to do anything about it.

Cutter had gotten confused at this, though. Grace had told him that Larvitar would stop moving shortly before evolution in order to build up energy, but Cutter soon found an answer. Larvitar burnt off initial energy, then approximately three to five days before evolution, they started to build up a focused, inner energy that would serve as an assistant to the transformation that took place within Pupitar. Inside of Pupitar, what was formerly Larvitar would slowly begin to harden and… this is where Cutter stopped being able to understand what the books had said. Inside of Pupitar, Tyranitar would slowly begin to form. That much he had gotten. The scientific aspect of it was much harder for him to grasp, so he had just skipped it.

While Pupitar were like Metapod in the sense that they had hardened, immovable shells, that wasn't to say that Pupitar wouldn't be able to move. Whereas Metapod couldn't move at all, Pupitar moved through a release of excess gas, Cutter laughed when he read this because he farted more than anyone he knew, from holes on the bottom of its shell. These holes were exactly like the holes in Larvitar's stomach area, except Pupitar had more. The ones on the bottom of its shell were for expelling gas to move, and the ones on the top of its shell, near its eyes, were for rock type attacks. This was a defense thing. Metapod quickly formed the Butterfree inside of them, while the formation of Tyranitar inside of Pupitar took much longer. They had to have a way to defend themselves in the wild, so they developed the holes and ability to move via gas.

Cutter had also learned that Pupitar did not eat the same way that Larvitar did. Pupitar have no mouths, so Cutter would have to get a special solution to spread on Pupitar's skin. Pupitar would then soak that in and that would act as its nutrition. That also helped with the evolution process. In the wild, a Pupitar would simply bury itself in the ground for several hours a day in order to absorb nutrients from the earth, but oftentimes Cutter would be in a city with no access to bare earth. And when he did have access to bare earth, they would be moving.

Normally Cutter would be fine with spending that extra time for Silver to soak in the earth, but he wanted to get all eight gym badges within a year and didn't have time to stop for four to five hours a day for Pupitar to soak in nutrients from the earth. He had brought it up to Silver to see what he thought, and he was on the same wavelength as Cutter. He wanted to use the formula. The faster they moved, the stronger they got. And, Cutter had learned, the solution that he would apply by hand helped grow love and trust between Pupitar and trainer. Also, it was more efficient and, according to scientists, better for the Pupitar. It could even cut down the evolution process by two to three months, and Silver had been all for that.

Cutter smiled, the warmth making his eyes heavy as he fell into a light nap.

xx

 _"Rillo!" Silver yelled, running from his teammate._

 _"Silver!" the Flaaffy laughed, chasing after him. They had been playing tag for the last twenty minutes and showed no signs of tiring. They were certainly enjoying the day off. As much as they loved battling, sometimes it was nice to rest._

 _Silver closed his eyes and counted to ten as Rillo ran away, but that didn't seem to help the Flaaffy. Silver could feel her every footstep by focusing on the earth. He reached ten and took off in her direction, laughing._

 _He had never been much of a laugher, and he knew that. He was set on protecting his Family and Master, no matter the cost. Master had been there for him since the day he was born and he was forever indebted to Master. More than being indebted, he loved and cared for Master greatly. Silver had seen pokemon that had Masters that didn't care for them and he was very lucky, he knew._

 _"_ The laughing comes from you nearing evolution," _Master had explained to him. Silver nodded and told him that he understood and was ready for the upcoming evolution, but Master didn't always seem to understand him. That was okay, Master would learn in time. He was getting better every day._

 _Silver also cared for the rest of his Family, but the Fast One could annoy him at times. He knew that the Fast One meant well, but he couldn't help but be annoyed. It also didn't help that she was stronger than him, at least for now. Silver admitted to himself that he was jealous, but also he was angry at himself. The Fast One could protect the Family better than he could, and that made him angry at himself. He was the Protector. Not the Fast One. Until evolution, there was nothing he could do though. He figured he could challenge her, but Master would be very upset if they began fighting for seemingly no reason. Although Master did know that Silver was jealous. Even if Master couldn't always understand him, Master was very perceptive._

 _He had no reason to fear the King or the Lightning. The Smart One was strong, sure, but they had a mutual respect for each other. though the Smart One was not a Larvitar, he knew that the King was royalty in his own species. He had no choice but respect. He would have respected the King even if he wasn't royalty, though. After winning the entire Final Battle by himself, the whole Family respected him._

 _The Lightning posed no threat to him at all, so he had no qualms with her. None of her attacks could hurt him. The Lightning had tried to shock him once with her electricity, but he hadn't felt it at all. The Lightning feared him some because of his serious nature, but this game of tag was helping to alleviate that fear._

 _He stomped on the ground, forcing a small bit of a rock tomb to come up underneath Rillo, causing her to stumble, and Silver capitalized. He poked Rillo in the back and took off as Rillo pushed herself up and began counting._

 _Rillo loved being a part of the Family. The night that Master had rescued her, she had been more fearful than ever before in her life. She thought that she was ready for evolution, but she was not. She was the last of her pack to be left as a Mareep, and she thought that she could go into the storm, evolve, and come back to them as an equal. She was afraid they would kick her out of the pack if she didn't catch up to them soon. Instead she had nearly been very hurt. If it wasn't for Master saving her, she didn't know where she might be now. She did know, though, that she had the opportunity to become far stronger than any of her pack ever would in the Forest. She was eternally grateful to him._

 _Even though she had been scared of battle for as long as she could remember, she had always wanted to prove herself, both to the pack and to Master. Most of her pack had evolved from battling, as a pack, but she had always stayed out of those fights. That was why she ventured into the storm. It was the only way to evolve._

 _But then Master had come along and been patient and kind with her. Master hadn't made her battle when she didn't want to. "_ You'll grow in your own time," _he had told her. Master took care of her, brushed her, and loved her. Love. Something she never had in the pack. She always trained as hard as she could. She wanted to be able to protect and please Master the same way the other three did. She figured that once she evolved again, which she felt herself growing near to, she would be able to do her best. She shuddered with excitement at the thought._

 _She loved the rest of the Family, even if the Protector scared her at times. He was usually so hard and stoic. She was ecstatic when he wanted to play tag with her. Even though she wasn't winning, she still loved it. Plus, she was building up lots of electricity in her wool. While being plugged into the Man-Electricity in her sleep was enjoyable, it wasn't as satisfying as building it up herself. She had tried to shock the Protector once, just to see if he would notice, but he kept walking and didn't even acknowledge the shock. That made her sad for a short time, but shortly after she learned that the Protector was completely immune to her electricity and that made her feel better again._

 _She was in constant awe of the King. The King was royalty in his own breed, and she found herself speechless around him. He was young and kind, and she wanted to become his friend, but whenever she started to interact with him, she found herself frozen. She had never been in the presence of royalty before he had come onto their Family. For a while she had been jealous of him. She loved being the newest member of the Family, but he was so nice that she couldn't help but like him. And sometimes the King made her feel happy. She didn't know how he did it, but sometimes, even when they weren't interacting, she would feel a sudden rush of joy and she knew it came from the King._

 _The Fast One was very nice to her, but they didn't interact much. The Fast One recognized from the beginning that she was very fearful, and had taken care of her. They both hated water, so that was a talking point between the two, but there was only so much two pokemon could talk about fear of water. She knew she could easily hurt water pokemon, but ever since the storm, she had hated water._

 _Bellow feigned napping next to Master. She would flick her ears, listening to the sounds of the Protector and the Lightning playing below her on the hill. Ever since she had evolved she had been sleeping more and more. Usually she would run and play with the others, but since evolution she just wanted to sleep. Sometimes she would entertain the smaller two, but generally she just napped._

 _Her and the Protector's relationship had not been the same since she had evolved. The Protector had been… cold to her. She couldn't figure out why at first, but then she heard Master telling him not to be jealous. She sighed at that. She hadn't wanted to disturb the order of the Family. The Protector was their leader. Even though she was evolved she recognized that. She knew her place. She couldn't seem to get on the Protector's good side. Before, when she was smaller and unevolved, she had found him attractive and a potential mate. But now that she was several feet taller and several hundred pounds heavier than him, she just found him cute, and not in a "mating" sort of way either._

 _The Lightning, on the other hand, held her in reverence ever since evolution. They used to be close friends and oftentimes would speak on their hatred of water, but after a while that grew old. They had very little in common, they found, other than both being attractive female pokemon. But she, in her opinion, was much more beautiful than the Lightning. More powerful too._

 _But the King was a different story entirely. Whereas the Lightning held her in reverence, she held the King in reverence. He was royalty. She had never been in the presence of royalty before. Once she had battled what Master had called a Kingler, but that didn't seem like royalty, not in the way that the King was. Even the Protector respected the King. She didn't understand it, but he seemed to hold their family in balance. Whenever the family was training, he kept all of their emotions in check. He never let them get overly angry or unconfident in their abilities. The King was always there, even if it was from a distance, cheering them up and bringing them confidence. He even helped the Master. The Master could be moody and try and work the rest of the Family too hard, even if the Master meant it out of love. She knew that the Master cared for them greatly, but sometimes the King helped keep him stable._

 _Their Family worked. She had seen the other Human's Family, and they seemed less like a Family than a group of living creatures. Most of them were untrained and uncivil. They didn't respect boundaries or personal space. The gold and black one was an exception. The Charge, they called him. The Charge was their leader and they respected him. The rest of them, who did not have names within their Group. She was glad that she had Master looking after her. She, even if their family had hiccups at times, was happy that the King was there to unite and stabilize them. She was happy that the Protector was there to, well, protect them. She was happy the Lightning was there to grow and become stronger. She was happy she was there because she genuinely cared for the rest of the Family._

 _Nostradamus stood regally, looking over the hillside as Father and the Fast One slept close by. Well, he looked as best as he could. His sight was blurry and unreliable, so for the most part he depended upon his ability to feel out with his mind. The Fast One was only pretending to sleep, but he wouldn't tell the others. He cocked his head and entered her mind, feeling the emotions that pulsed. He was not yet able to read and transmit thoughts, but he knew that it wouldn't be long before he had grown enough to do that. The Fast One was content, in a sleepy sort of way. She obviously cared for the team, and he cared for the her. Not as much as he cared for Father of course, but still he cared a considerable amount. He oftentimes had trouble reading her. It seemed that the Fast One had some sort of dark gene within her. Once he could communicate telepathically he would have to ask Father about that._

 _He directed his thoughts to the Lightning. The Lightning was the most carefree of the entire Family. The way she played and laughed. Still, he could see past all of that. He saw her desire to grow stronger and become more powerful. He was not surprised that she wanted it not only for herself, but also for Father. He also felt that she would get there. Battling did not come as easily to her as it did to the rest, but he felt something special within her, something he did not feel within any other members of the Family._

 _He switched to the Protector. Oftentimes he found it difficult to read the Protector as well. The Protector, he knew, would become a dark type one day. Even though he wasn't a dark type now, he had the gene in him. Once the Protector evolved into his final form, he would no longer be able to read the Protector at all. As Father had studied up on the Protector's upcoming evolution, he paid as much attention as he could. Apparently, the dark type gene took effect during the pupal stage, meaning that he would lose much of his ability to read the emotions of the Protector far before the final evolution._

 _Finally, he directed his attention to Father. How he cared for Father. The human had taken him in on barely any notice and had cared for him greatly. "_ I know you're of royal blood, but you can loosen up a bit. Have some fun _," Father had whispered to him earlier that day. He was having fun, in his own way. With brains, two to be exact, far superior to the rest of the Family's, he had fun a different way. He loved to analyze and learn things._

 _Never catch him._

 _He cocked his head up towards the Protector and the Lightning. "Did either of you say something?" He asked, bowing his head to them? They paused for a second, shook their heads, and resumed playing. He closed his eyes and concentrated._

 _Losing._

 _There it was again, coming directly from where the two were playing. For a moment he struggled to understand what he was hearing but then it hit him. He was doing it. He was hearing thoughts. He had been trying for the last several months, even before he had been united with Master, and he was finally doing it._

 _Protector._

 _He pushed that thought from him towards the Protector with every ounce of psychic energy he could manage. The Protector's head whipped up and around, not knowing where the sound had come from._

 _Who is there?_

 _It is I, the King._

 _The Protector's head spun around and made eye contact with the King. He had done it. He was, slowly, able to project and receive thoughts. The joy that jumped through him spread out to every member of the Family, including Master, and he rolled over and sat up._

"What's happening?" Cutter asked sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He had woken up feeling surprisingly good and he figured that Nos had something to do with it.

 _Father._

Cutter jolted backwards, looking around in a state of shock before his eyes landed on Nostradamus. "Nos?" He murmured in awe.

 _It is me, Father._ Nostradamus bowed his head to Cutter, finally able to speak to him.

"You… you can speak to me now?"

 _Yes. Though it requires much effort._

Cutter's look of amazement spread into a grin and he leapt up and hugged Nos, wrapping his arms around his pokemon's neck. He no longer had to bend down to hug him, either. In the last two weeks, Nos had grown at least six inches. Within the next couple of weeks, he would be as tall as Cutter. It wouldn't be long before he was as tall as Praagh had been, and Cutter's smile couldn't help but grow wider at the thought.

 _Thinking of my grandfather._

Cutter just nodded and he stepped back to admire Nostradamus, the smile still plastered across his face. "Don't expend too much energy. I want you to get better at this, but also I want you to stay healthy. You know your limits, so do what you feel capable of." He paused. "But just know that I am so proud of you. You're growing so much, not just in size, but ability too." Cutter smiled and joy rushed through him again, a mix of both his and Nostradamus's.

xx

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a state of pure bliss. For a while he played tag with Silver and Rillo, laughing whenever Silver would cause him to trip up by moving the earth, or when Rillo would shock him lightly on accident.

He got out Bellow's brush and spent some time grooming her. He hadn't had a chance to brush her since before her evolution, and he knew that she would enjoy the attention.

He brushed Nostradamus as well, but with a different brush than he brushed Bellow with. Bellow needed a comb because she had thick, long hair. Nostradamus had short, shiny, sleek hair that required a soft brush as to not damage either his hair or the skin underneath. They had a conversation during the brushing, all through their minds. Generally the sentences were short, but Cutter enjoyed it nonetheless. And the more they talked, or thought, the better Nos got to be at it.

 _You called me Father?_ This was weird to Cutter. Nos could read his thoughts and send more back into his head.

 _Yes. I call you Father_. Cutter had never thought about what his team must call him or think about him. But now he had a way to know. He didn't want to pry too much because he cared for his team and valued their privacy, but still. He couldn't help but wonder.

 _Do they_ Cutter gestured to the rest of the team _call me Father as well?_

 _No. Master is their title for you._ Cutter was taken aback by this and Nos continued on. _I imprinted upon you, so you are more of a parental figure to me than a Master._

 _They see me as a master? We're a team. A family._

 _We know that. And we all care for you greatly. They all love you._ So that answered that question. _Master is an affectionate term. They respect you greatly as well. There is no need for fear. You are greatly cared for. We will look after you._ Nos licked Cutter's cheek, the warm, wet tongue causing Cutter to giggle and pull away laughing. Cutter hated that they called him Master and he would have to bring that up to them later, but for now he would just enjoy their time together.

xx

"Alright team, let's do some light jogging and then we'll head to the gym!" The team, or family as Nostradamus had informed Cutter, was flooded with adrenaline. It was a combination of their own excitement and Nostradamus hyping everyone up.

Thirty minutes later they were on their way to the gym. Regina had won her battle the day before, so Cutter wasn't particularly worried. He watched the video of the battle, she recorded all of her battles, and he noticed that she was very good. The battle between he and her could have gone either way in the tournament. She used Sally, her Salandit, her Alolan Vulpix whose name was Vill, and a Machop named Fists. She loved status conditions and wearing her opponents down. That much was apparent from the way she battled both against Cutter in the tournament and against the gym leader Wylie. She would use Vill and Sally to tire out the opponent, and then use Fists to finish up the job.

Wylie, the son of current Elite Four Member Whitney and former Goldenrod City Gym Leader, used normal types just like his mother. He was roughly Cutter and Sally's age, if not a year or two older, but had been battling since he was a child. Against Regina he used a Tauros, Aipom, and Meowth. On her own, Sally had taken down the Meowth and done pretty well against Aipom before finally falling. Then the match between Aipom and Vill went on for a while, Vill slowly but surely slowing the Aipom down with a combination of ice type moves and confuse ray. Tauros had made quick work of Vill, and then Fists had come out. It was over quickly from there.

Cutter wasn't worried. He and Wylie had a very similar battle style. They both went head first into battles and gave it their all. Cutter would just have to give it a little more than his opponent.

xx

Cutter stepped into the gym, all of his pokemon in their pokeballs. At the front desk sat a receptionist who happily took Cutter's information and got him set up for the battle. "Wylie is looking forward to this battle, you know. He watched you all throughout the tournament. He was very impressed," she confided.

Cutter smiled and thanked her. He had been watching me? That means he knows all my tricks. Cutter forced himself to calm down. If he wanted to become the world's greatest trainer, he would have to become used to trainers knowing his basic strategy. That's where being an excellent trainer came into play. Improvisation and quick thinking on the field. Sure set strategies were fine, but thinking on the fly is what made a trainer great.

"Cutter! THERE YOU ARE!" From out of seemingly nowhere appeared the gym leader who wrapped Cutter up in a huge hug. As they separated, Cutter noticed how handsome he was. He looked as if he could be a model, but in a more real life sort of way. He had sharp cheekbones, a well-defined jawline, piercing blue eyes and platinum blond hair. Not to mention he was several inches taller than Cutter and quite muscular. Cutter felt himself start to blush so he looked away.

Why have I been like this. First Regina, now Wylie. I don't even know him. I'm here to win a battle. I'm here to become the strongest pokemon trainer there is.

"I've been waiting for you. I was disappointed you didn't come challenge me yesterday. The other girl certainly did put me in my place, but I'm not going to go as easy on you as I did on her." Cutter started to talk but the rambunctious gym leader continued. "You have four pokemon, yes?"

"Yes." That was all Cutter managed to get out before Wylie continued.

"Then this will be a four on four battle! I want to see your FULL STRENGTH! The battle will end when one of us, probably you, has no pokemon left to battle. How's that sound?"

"Great," Cutter told Wylie, smiling. He was excited. This gym leader was an interesting fellow indeed.

"Perfect. Now you'll have to know that if I win, you have to get lunch with me. 'Kay?"

Cutter cocked his head, confused. "What?" He was pretty sure that gym leaders couldn't make demands like that, but he was intrigued regardless.

"I'm kidding. We're getting lunch either way." Wylie grinned before turning and walking to his end of the rubber battle plot. As he walked, he called over his shoulder, "and don't worry, I'm paying."

Cutter grinned confusedly and blushed, thankful that Wylie was turned the other way. He forced the gym leader out of his mind and made his way to his battle box. He probably does that with every trainer to throw them off their game.

"The Gym Leader will choose his pokemon first. Begin!" Called out the referee.

"Digsby! You're up!" The pokemon that appeared was a large tan pokemon with big floppy ears with fists on the end and a large brown ring of fur around its waist. Its legs looked powerful and slightly resembled Buneary. Cutter recognized it, but only because he had watched a documentary over the Kalos region a few months before leaving on his journey. Diggersby, he thought the pokemon was called, and if he wasn't mistaken, it was a normal and ground type pokemon. So Rillo wouldn't be first.

"Bellow! Let's go!" Cutter figured that Bellow was the best bet. The ground type moves produced by Digsby would hurt Rillo and Silver too easily, and he wanted to save Nos for later. Plus, Bellow could tank hits and out speed it.

"Bellow, agility!" Bellow grunted in acknowledgment and sped into agility, practically disappearing as she ran around the field. She occasionally fired a swift to test Digsby's reflexes. Digsby easily stopped them all with a mud slap.

"Dig!" Wylie's first command of the battle came a few minutes in. Digsby used its large, powerful ears to dig into the earth, disappearing into the field.

"Be careful!"

Digsby popped up from the earth and quickly burrowed back down in a different spot. This repeated several times before Cutter caught onto what Digsby was doing and realized the danger that Bellow was in. He was digging holes all over the battle field so that Bellow couldn't utilize her speed.

"Bellow, stop running!" Bellow appeared on the opposite end of the field, directly in front of Wylie, who was smiling.

"Come up now, mega punch."

Digsby appeared from a hole close to Bellow, his fist like ear cloaked in white.

"Mega punch!"

 _UUURRRR_

Bellow's fist cloaked in white and the two mega punches met, creating a loud boom and blowing both of them back. Bellow had taken the brunt of the damage it had seemed and the way she was holding her paw made it seem like it was hurt.

"Swift!" A flurry of golden stars flew from her maw but Digsby fled back into the holes. He was using them both to prohibit Bellow's speed and hide. Cutter would have to work harder if he wanted to outsmart Wylie.

"Mud bomb!"

 _ERBEEE!_

A large ball of mud flew from the hole, smacking Bellow squarely in the face.

 _UUUUURRRR_

She struggled to wipe it off, but she wasn't able to get the sticky mud off of her face. She was blinded.

"Now, come up and mega punch!"

Digsby appeared again, screaming BEEEE and fist cloaked in white.

"Mega punch again!" Cutter cried, suddenly fearful.

 _UUUURRR_

Bellow's fist cloaked in white as well, but she was completely blinded by the mud bomb and her mega punch missed by a mile. Digsby's mega punch landed, uppercutting Bellow, throwing her backwards and sending her crashing into the psychic barrier. She didn't get back up.

Cutter withdrew her, mouth open. Bellow was the strongest pokemon on his team and she hadn't even been able to touch the Diggersby. He would have to play smarter if he wanted to beat this Diggersby. He kissed her pokeball and whispered an encouraging word before replacing her pokeball on his waist. There would be a blow to her confidence from this and Cutter wanted her to know that she had done her best.

"Nostradamus!"

The pure white Girafarig appeared on the field, whinnying and stomping his hooves.

 _Riiii_

"Nos, we're down so be careful. It's strong."

 _Yes Father._ Both Cutter's and Nos's eyes glowed red, signifying the mind link the two had, unwittingly, established.

"A mind link! Wow. That's rare for such young pokemon. I applaud you. It won't help you here though!" Wylie was smiling bigger than before and Cutter found himself annoyed with the handsome gym leader.

 _Mind link?_

 _I don't know, Nos. This is the first I've heard of it. We'll ask Sabrina when we get to Saffron._

"What a beautiful normal type," Wylie grinned, "thank you for bringing not one but two gorgeous normal types to my gym. But did you really think you could take me down using my specialty? You should have known better Cutter. Tsk tsk."

Cutter hadn't thought of that. Annoyance at himself bubbled up and he struggled to push it down, but found he didn't have to. A wave of calmness flowed over from Nos into him and he found himself settling down.

 _Why are you so distracted, Father?_

 _It's nothing, Nos. Focus. Hypnosis!_

A weak purple beam flew from between Nos's horns, mixed with a soft, slow raaaf. Digsby's eyes began to droop, but Wylie wasn't having it.

"Underground!"

Before Digsby could fall asleep, he went to leap into the nearest hole to him, but was covered in mix of pink and purple psy energy. Nos had caught him with confusion and with no way to defend himself, he fell asleep.

"Pressure him!"

Nos increased his pressure on the Diggersby, pressuring him from all sides with the weak psy energy.

"Now, slam him!"

Using the psy energy, Nos lifted Digsby as high as he could before slamming him down into the earth, a large billow of dust engulfing him.

"Dazzling gleam!"

"Snore!"

The pink fairy energy leapt from between Nos's horns and struck its target, but it was short lived because a loud rumbling _ERRRBEEEEEEE_ exploded throughout the room, causing Cutter to cringe and cover his ears, the pain even greater because he was connected to Nostradamus. The snore was especially painful for Nos due to his heightened sense of smell because of his diminished eye sight.

Nos's front knees buckled and he struggled to stay standing.

"Nos, coat yourself in confusion!" Cutter called out, scrambling, hoping that would block out some of the sound.

A weak veil of psy energy surrounded Nos, and he managed to push himself to his feet. Cutter didn't know if it was the confusion or just sheer willpower but he was grateful for his pokemon.

"Now, dazzling gleam! Follow in with stomp and confusion!"

 _Riii_

Nos fired off a dazzling gleam and galloped in towards Digsby, careful to avoid the holes that scattered the field. He leapt and stomped hard on the face of the still sleeping Digsby, using confusion to stomp down harder.

"Grab it!"

Cutter hadn't realized that Digsby had woken up. The hand like ear swung out to grab Nos's legs, but Nos used confusion, catching Digsby and holding him tight.

"Now, raise him and zen headbutt!"

Nos tossed him up and with a triumphant _riiii_ she slammed into him with zen headbutt. He was knocked out on contact.

Digsby disappeared in a burst of red light and in his place appeared a Loudred. The large purple pokemon had large speaker type organs in its ears that could expel sound louder than any jet could. The only pokemon louder were Noivern and Exploud. This spelled trouble for Nos. Loudred specialized in sound based attacks and Nos was barely able to handle a snore from Digsby. He wouldn't fare well against Loudred.

"This is where the battle ends, Cutter. Boomer, use uproar!"

Boomer began jumping around, loud bursts of blaring sound bursting from his speaker like ears. Cutter fell to his knees, hands clamped around his ears.

 _RIIIIII_

If Cutter was in this much pain, he could only imagine how it was affecting Nos. He fumbled for Nos's pokeball and withdrew him, the pain disappearing along with Boomer's screams.

"Like I said, this is the end."

Cutter placed Nos's pokeball back on his belt and sent out Silver. There was no way that Rillo would be able to take Boomer down, and Silver wasn't as sensitive to sound as his other pokemon.

"Silver, rock tomb!"

"Burst it!"

The moment the rock sprung from the ground, Loudred emitted a powerful screech, causing it to explode into a thousand pieces.

"Rock throw!"

 _Vii_

Silver sprinted towards Boomer, readying a rock throw. He reared back and prepared to slam the rock into Boomer, but another loud screech from the purple pokemon exploded the rock throw and threw Silver off balance. Faster than Cutter would have thought possible, Boomer reared back and launched a mega punch into Silver's unprotected face, throwing the small rock type backwards across the field.

Silver hit the ground hard and struggled to push himself up as Boomer bounded towards him. Silver made it to his feet and the Loudred was quick to scream again, the reverberations knocking Silver back to the ground, where Boomer promptly knocked him out with a mega kick.

Cutter returned Silver and just stood there. His only pokemon left was Rillo. Rillo would have to fight a pokemon that had knocked out both Nostradamus and Silver without a problem. Even if Rillo did manage to take out that Loudred, that had taken next to no damage, she would still have to take on two more pokemon.

But he couldn't forfeit. That was a sign of weakness and Rillo would never forgive him for it. Her confidence had grown so much and he couldn't break it by not even letting her battle. That would be a harder blow than a loss.

Cutter tossed her pokeball out and she materialized, ready for battle.

"This was fun, Cutter. Where do you want to go to lunch?"

Cutter ignored the gym leader's snide comments and focused on the battle.

"Rillo, charge beam."

 _Laaa_

A small but concentrated beam of electricity immediately burst from Rillo's tail, striking Boomer in the face. The Loudred shook it off easily and began to run towards Rillo.

"Electric terrain and thunder wave."

She slammed her tail into the ground, electricity rising up around her. A small burst of electricity jumped from her tail and hit the Loudred, causing it to stumble. She followed up with another, stronger charge beam.

"Uproar again!"

Cutter racked his brain. Tackle.

"Tackle!" He shouted.

Normally, Cutter would never call on Rillo to use tackle, but it was an offensive move that could throw Boomer off balance, and that's what he needed in this moment.

Rillo delivered, slamming into Boomer before he could use uproar. Thunder wave was paying off, making him sluggish.

"Mega punch!"

"Fall back!"

Rillo, sped up by the electric terrain, fell backwards as Boomer swung, barely dodging the decisive blow.

"Tackle again, then charge beam!"

Rillo lunged forward, tackling Boomer, throwing him off balance once again. She smacked her tail into him, delivering a direct contact charge beam, causing him to scream in pain.

Rillo covered her ears and stepped back, trying to escape the noise.

"No, Rillo! Use cotton spore!"

Rillo forced herself to move through the pain of the screeching, running around the Loudred, shaking bits of cotton of of herself and onto him.

"Mega punch!"

 _LOUUUUU_

Boomer swung, but his movements were sluggish and Rillo dodged easily. She fired another, stronger charge beam straight into his speaker like ear, and suddenly it stopped making noise. The other ear speaker screamed in pain. The volume was cut in half, though and Cutter could actually hear himself think again.

"Go for the other ear!"

Rillo fired another charge beam straight into his other ear as Boomer attempted to turn away, but he was too slow.

"Uproar!"

Boomer tried to force sound out, but nothing came.

"Charge beam one more time!"

Rillo fired her largest charge beam yet straight into the open mouth of Boomer, knocking him out on the spot.

"Well done, Cutter. But your Flaaffy can't take down two more of my pokemon."

He tossed out another pokeball, and a Stantler appeared. The tan pokemon's golden antlers glowed and Stantler pawed the ground, obviously ready for battle.

"Dasher, use hypnosis!"

A weak psy energy came from Dasher's antlers, but nothing happened. Cutter smirked at the gym leader's mistake. Whenever an electric type pokemon was within the bounds of an Electric terrain, they were prevented from falling asleep.

"Charge beam!"

Rillo quickly fired a large beam of electricity which Dasher jumped over easily. He galloped around the field, easily avoiding the holes that littered the field.

Each charge beam that Rillo sent at him, Dasher leapt agilely over it, not expending any noticeable energy.

"Double team!"

Suddenly Dasher split into several different copies, each exactly the same as the last. If Silver was on the field he would be able to use his ground typing to tell which one was actually putting weight on the earth and which were just holograms of the original. But Silver wasn't on the field. It was Rillo.

"Thundershock all of them!"

Rillo let loose a burst of blue electricity that didn't seem like thundershock. It was discharge, a much stronger electric type attack. He didn't know that Rillo could use it, but she had learned it in the nick of time. Discharge was an attack that was naturally drawn to the electrolytes inside of a pokemon's body, so it would hit every pokemon that was on the field.

Cutter smiled. Maybe they could still turn this around.

Dasher staggered, obviously thrown off guard by the strong attack.

"Charge beam!"

This time charge beam met its mark, knocking Dasher to his knees.

"Hypnosis!"

Cutter smiled, but it quickly faded when he saw that Rillo had fallen asleep. The electric terrain had died out in all of the excitement and she was no longer protected from sleep. He returned her before she could take any more damage. There was nothing else she would be able to do.

Cutter bowed his head in defeat. This was his first real loss on his journey and he hated the way it felt. He felt as if he had let his pokemon down, and there was no worse feeling than that, Cutter decided.

"You did well," Wylie admitted, clapping him on the shoulder. He hadn't even noticed the leader make his way across the field. He had been so engrossed by his anger at himself to notice.

"Yeah, right. I lost."

"Everyone loses. Come on, let's drop your pokemon off at a Center and we'll get lunch." Cutter shook his head in protest, but Wylie wasn't having it. "I told you if you lost, you had to get lunch with me." Cutter allowed himself to be steered out by the taller boy, having no choice but to go along. He wasn't as strong as Wylie and he had no pokemon to defend him. Not that he didn't want to go to lunch. It was just that Cutter was bad with attractive people. That much was obvious from his failed interaction with Regina before his semifinal battle two days before. Cutter just sighed and went along.

Thirty minutes later and they were sitting in one of the fanciest, most expensive restaurants in Goldenrod. They had dropped all four of Cutter's pokemon and the three of Wylie's that had battled off at the nearest Pokemon Center before making their way to the restaurant they were sitting in.

"So," Wylie began. "Your battle. Let's talk about this now so that we can have an actual conversation soon." He was dead serious as he said this, the playful gym leader that Cutter had battled earlier was gone.

"Yeah," Cutter muttered, still feeling defeated.

"You're obviously very talented. There's no doubt about that."

At that moment the waitress approached the table. Before she could speak, Wylie said, "the usual for us both. Thank you, Matilda."

He turned back to Cutter. "But you have rushed through your journey. You started off not too long ago and you have obviously not capitalized on your pokemon's potential." Cutter opened his mouth in protest, but Wylie continued. "You've only been a trainer for three months now. There's no way for you to have. You won that tournament because you were battling other trainers who had been battling for as short of a time as you. Then you came to my gym and challenged me. I've been battling and training for three years now. I know more than you. I don't mean that as an insult, I just have more experience. How many days ago did you challenge Bugsy?"

Cutter paused as he counted the days. "About eleven."

"Exactly. You went from your second gym challenge to your third gym challenge in less than two weeks. Every two badges you get, the gym leaders have extreme jumps in skill. You were able to get by against Bugsy and Falkner because they were your fist two gym challenges. But on your third, fifth, and seventh gym challenges, there will always be a considerable increase in strength in your opponent. Your pokemon all have incredible potential. You just have to learn to utilize it. Take your time. You have almost two years until the Silver Conference. There is no need to rush. Slow down. Bond with your pokemon. Train with them. Help them grow. You have potential. A journey with your pokemon throughout Johto is one of the most incredible things. Don't waste it because you're rushing."

Cutter nodded. He didn't know what to say. He knew that everything that Wylie had said was true, even if it stung.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. I was the exact same way when I was your age. My mother had to explain all of this to me, and trust me when I say that she wasn't as nice about it as I'm being. I don't know you well enough for tough love. Yet." He winked when he said yet, and Cutter felt himself begin to blush yet again. "You'll grow and figure yourself out. Just don't try and make it happen too fast."

"Thank you. I needed to hear that. I just… I wanted to get as strong as I could as fast as I could, but I guess that's not how you get true strength, is it?"

"I have a proposition for you." Cutter's ears perked up at that. "Once you have six gym badges, I would like for you to come and train under me. The seventh and eighth gym badges are notoriously hard to get, especially if you go in the League recommended order and end with Pratt and Claire. If you come back to Goldenrod and spend two months with me, I promise that you will grow and get stronger than you thought possible. And if you're going the League recommended order, you'll have to pass through Ecruteak to get to Mahogany. And Ecruteak is only a three or four day's walk from here." There was a pause as Cutter thought about it. "I understand that it's a hard thing to think about now, having just lost to me, but I highly recommend it. And it's not just because I think you're cute. You have potential. But it also doesn't hurt that you're cute." Wylie winked. Cutter felt himself begin to blush and tried to steer the conversation away from his looks.

"I'll do it. I want to get as strong as I can, and you're obviously a great trainer. It would be an honor" Cutter smiled. He had heard of people getting mentors and teachers, but he didn't know that it would be this easy.

"And hot." Wylie winked, causing Cutter to blush even more.

"yeahandhot," Cutter mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Wylie was smirking now.

"Nothing. You know what I said." Cutter smiled, but it quickly vanished. "Will I have to pay you anything?"

"Nothing at all. I _will_ have you help with the upkeep of the gym while we're in Goldenrod, but other than that, nothing. You'll have a place to sleep, food, and me. What more could you want?"

"Absolutely nothing," Cutter laughed. He was slowly becoming more comfortable around the gym leader and he was just grateful he wasn't blushing every other sentence anymore. But one thing Wylie said had confused him. "While we're in Goldenrod?"

"Don't worry about that yet. For now, you need to worry about training and beating me next time." He smiled at Cutter and winked, his tone finally back to the playfulness Cutter had grown so used to during their battle. "So, enough about that. Tell me about you."

xx

Cutter didn't even realize that three hours had passed until he saw Wylie check his phone.

"Oh, shit," he muttered. "I'm leaving for Saffron with Regina in thirty minutes. I've got to go!"

"You better get going then. It was wonderful having lunch with you." Wylie wrapped Cutter up in a hug, and Cutter, after a second, returned it. Wylie pulled away from the hug first, much to Cutter's dismay although he tried not to let it show on his face. Wylie handed Cutter a small slip of paper and said, "Here's my number. Be sure to text."

"I don't have a phone," Cutter admitted, bowing his head.

"Well, I'll see you in a few weeks. I hope you like presents." Wylie winked and turned and walked away before Cutter could say anything else. Cutter had blushed again, but he thought Wylie had turned away before he saw it. There was just something about him.

"Oh, one last thing," Wylie turned.

 _Shit._ Cutter tried to cover up his blushing. "Yeah?" He tried to play it off coolly, but he just sounded like a dork, even just that one word coming out less smooth than he would have liked.

Wylie smiled. _Dammit._ "I'd keep Nostradamus a little more under wraps if I were you, at least until he's more powerful. I'd hate for something to happen to such a rare and potentially powerful pokemon. Especially a normal type. So, just, be careful?" And with that he turned and walked away, this time for good.

xx

He sat down on the train across from Regina, Rillo in his lap.

"You doing okay?" she asked him, Vill in her lap. It was the first time they had gotten to talk since they had seen each other. When Cutter had gotten back to the Pokemon Center, he had been stressed and was running late.

"Yeah!" He then told her about the battle and their lunch, going into detail about everything except for their flirting.

"Whoa! He offered you a mentorship? No way. Those can be so hard to get. But he absolutely thrashed you. Why would he offer it to you?"

"I don't know," Cutter admitted. "He said he saw himself in me. I guess that's why?"

She nodded. That seemed to be an acceptable answer. After that, they were silent. It was a fourteen-hour train ride, meaning they would get to Saffron at 9 A.M. the next morning. Luckily they had their own compartment, but even then, it was slightly cramped. He returned Rillo and spread out as best he could on his bench seat, trying to get comfortable.

He spent the next several hours going over the battle in his mind. What he had done wrong and what he would do to fix it. Really Wylie was right. It all came down to rushing his journey. In order to prevent him from rushing anymore, Wylie told him that he wasn't allowed to challenge his gym again for two more weeks. Cutter hadn't told Regina that yet. He didn't know if she would be willing to spend an extra week in Goldenrod. He could only hope that she would.

Cutter drifted off to sleep, still thinking about the battle and how to improve his team. His last thought before drifting off to sleep, however, was not any member of his team, but Wylie. He just couldn't get his mind off of him no matter how hard he tried.

I can't have a crush on him, Cutter would tell himself, outwardly gagging whenever the "c word" would pop up in his mind. I'm going to be living with him for two months. And in between my third badge and my mentorship, I won't see him for several months.

"A present," Wylie had told him. Cutter had spent a lot of time pondering just what that present might be. He had said that right after Cutter mentioned not having a cell phone. But there was no way that Wylie would get him a cell phone. They were ridiculously expensive and hardly anyone in Johto had them. Still, Cutter twirled the piece of paper that held Wylie's phone number on it. He forced himself to push the thought of a cell phone out of his mind. The present was probably just a potion or something silly like that. No point in getting his hopes up.

Cutter drifted off to sleep, still thinking about the battle and how to improve his team. His last thought before drifting off to sleep, however, was not any member of his team, but Wylie. He just couldn't get his mind off of him no matter how hard he tried.

xx

 **So Cutter lost his first big battle, and he lost it badly too! How will he grow from this loss? Thanks for reading this story! As usual feel free to PM me if you have any questions or thoughts, leave a review, like, or follow! A big thanks to Melior for proof reading this chapter for me! Have a great day!**


	9. Saffron

Cutter and Regina stepped off of the train early that morning, stretching their stiff and tired bones. Even though they had their own compartment in the train, it just wasn't as spacious as the outdoors, or even a Pokemon Center room for that matter.

"Do we want to find a Pokemon Center and get checked in? Then you can go meet with Sabrina and I can check out some other parts of the city?" Regina asked, releasing Sally. The fire and poison type scampered up Regina and draped herself across Regina's shoulders. Cutter laughed slightly. She looked like a scaly feather boa.

"Sounds good to me. There should be one close by. This city is bigger than Goldenrod, and Goldenrod has plenty of Pokemon Centers. We should have no trouble finding one here."

xx

As it turned out, the train station was right next to a Pokemon Center. They got settled into their rooms and Regina headed out with a promise to be back sometime that evening. Cutter hung back, though. He needed to talk with his team about their loss the day before. Rillo was the only one he had had a chance to speak to, and he felt awful that he had had to put the talk off so long. He could only imagine how badly they were all taking it, Silver and Bellow specifically. They were his two strongest pokemon and neither of them had taken out an opponent. Silver had barely even put up a fight against Boomer.

He would have to deal with each conversation in their own way, seeing as how each of his pokemon had such different personalities. Rillo hadn't been that disappointed. Of course she had been upset, but she had taken out a pokemon that both Silver and Nostradamus had lost to. She was proud of herself but still disappointed overall. Silver and Bellow would be taking it badly no matter what, and really Cutter had no idea how Nostradamus would react. That was his fist gym battle, and Rillo's too now that he thought about it. He thought that they would have had far better results than they did.

Cutter released Silver, wanting to get the hardest, yet most important, conversation out of the way first. Silver immediately ducked his head and turned away from him slightly. Cutter choked up, hating seeing his starter like that.

"Hey buddy." He reached out and stroked the horn of his starter. He could only imagine how badly Silver must be feeling. Silver looked up at him but didn't turn his body. Cutter sat on the ground beside him, still stroking his horn. "How are you?" They sat in silence for a few seconds before Silver finally turned to him, head bowed.

"Lar," Silver mumbled.

"Hey. We lost the whole battle. Everyone on the team lost. And when it comes down to it, that's my fault. Not yours. You did the best you could. I sent you into that battle unprepared. That's on me."

"Larv Larvitar," his starter said, looking up at him. Cutter couldn't really understand what Silver was saying, but he knew that it was surely comforting.

"You know what this means, right?" Silver cocked his head and looked up at his trainer with wide eyes. It means that we have to train harder and longer. All of us are going to have to work harder. And if anyone can lead this team, it's you. They look up to you, you know? Even Bellow. I know you think she doesn't, but she respects you a lot."

Silver looked at his trainer, a faint smile playing at the edge of his mouth. He wasn't completely cheered up, and Cutter wasn't really either. The loss had been a huge blow to both of them, but Cutter and Silver were similar in a lot of ways. They wouldn't let this loss bring them down. They would fight and bring themselves up and work to become as strong as they could. They pressed their foreheads together, mutually and silently agreeing to both do their best.

 _Master could be tough sometimes, but he meant well. Silver would do anything for him. He lost the battle. All they could do now was improve. And he would improve. He would show Master just how strong he could be._

Cutter released Bellow, what he figured would be the next hardest conversation. Bellow was a sweet pokemon, but she was just as passionate about being the best as Silver was. And since she was easily the strongest on the team, he figured that she would take it especially hard.

Bellow stared at him awkwardly for a moment before wrapping him up in a hug. Cutter was taken by surprise but quickly regained his composure and returned the hug, or he tried to at least. He couldn't quite move his arms because they were trapped by Bellow's powerful hug. He finally understood what people meant when they said "Ursaring hug." It was comforting in a way that Cutter didn't quite understand.

"How are you?"

"Ursa ur ur," she grunted, releasing Cutter.

"Yeah. I'm disappointed too, girl. It's okay to be upset about this, but we have to move forward from it and grow. I told Silver this, but we have to grow and get stronger. We're going to train harder from here on out. This loss was my fault. You're just as strong, if not stronger than that Diggersby. I didn't do my job as a trainer and take control. You did your best. Don't beat yourself up."

She embraced him in an Ursaring hug again and this time Cutter was able to return it.

 _Bellow had certainly been upset about the loss. She had spent the last several hours in suspended animation in her pokeball thinking it over. Ultimately, Master was right. She needed to train and get stronger. And she would. She would show Master that she wanted this as badly as he did._

Cutter smiled softly as she disappeared in a flash of red light. Both Silver and Bellow had taken it much better than he had expected them to.

"Rii," Nostradamus whinnied as he appeared, his tail-end head snapping and grunting lightly as a sort of greeting. As much as Cutter had groomed and been with Nos, he still made sure to keep away from the tail-end head. It had a brain separate to that of Nostradamus'. Cutter had tried to feed it once, but it snapped at Cutter viciously so he made sure to stay away. The tail-end heads were more like bug pokemon than psychic. They responded to power and authority rather than kindness and love. Cutter tried to be stern with it, but it saw the way he was soft and kind with Nostradamus's front-end head, so the tail-end head didn't buy it.

"Hey, Nos." Nostradamus bowed his head.

 _Hello, Father._ Generally, Nostradamus was warm and cheerful, but an overwhelming amount of anger and disappointment rushed over Cutter. He had never felt this end of Nostradamus' emotions before and Cutter vowed to never let him get this low again.

 _How are you?_

 _I let you down._ Nos bowed his head further, completely avoiding looking at Cutter.

 _Look at me._ Nos reluctantly looked up at Cutter, making eye contact with his trainer. _You did not let me down. You did your best out there. You took down Diggersby. You lost to a pokemon that took advantage of your weaknesses. There was nothing you could do about that. You did your best, right?_

There was a pause before Nos answered. _Yes, Father. But still, I-._

 _No. You did not let me down. You lost a battle. Even the best trainers and pokemon lose sometimes. The current Champion of Johto, do you think he won every battle he was in?_

 _No, Father._

 _Exactly. And neither will we. We may lose again. We will almost definitely lose again. But we can't let it get us down. We have to work harder than before. Wylie was a strong trainer, but we're stronger. He just got the best of us last time. But next time, we're going to beat him. Then we're going to beat the other gym leaders and then we're going to become the strongest team the world has ever seen._ Throughout his speech, Nos had started to warm back up, the feeling of despair leaving Cutter, instead being replaced by warmth and an eagerness to begin.

 _Yes, Father. You are right. Our Family must grow. We cannot give up. We are strong, all five of us. You are our leader. Silver is our protector. Bellow is the caretaker. I am the brains. Rillo, well I don't really know yet, but she has something the rest of us don't have. She will find her place eventually._

 _What do you mean?_

 _I do not know, Father. I sense in her something greater than in any of the rest of our family. As I learn more, I will tell you._

Cutter nodded, furrowing his brow. _Yes, thank you Nos. Now, we're about to go meet with Sabrina. She is-._

 _The greatest psychic humankind knows. Yes. All psychic types in this area of the world are aware of her, Father. I am honored just to be able to meet her._

 _Yes, Nos. Hopefully she can tell us some more about your imprinting and our Mind Link, as Wylie called it._

 _Yes, I do hope so._

xx

"I'm here to meet with Sabrina," Cutter said, leaning against the front counter of the gym. He had found it relatively easily. He had to ask directions from a couple of locals on his way, but Saffron was a business city and it was lunch time. Many people had been out and about. They weren't as kind as the locals in Johto, but Kantoans weren't as kind as their Johto neighbors in general. Cutter chocked it up to them being in a rush, but he wasn't so sure.

"Yes, Mr. Robinson. She's ready for you."

"What?" Cutter started, fumbling over his words. He hadn't called ahead or let anyone other than Wylie and Regina know that he was coming. "How did she know?"

"She's the most powerful human psychic in the world. She has had almost half a century to hone her psychic powers. She felt you the moment you entered the city. You may enter through the door on my left." As soon as she said that, it swung open. Cutter nodded and headed through the door.

He walked through a long, dimly lit hall until he came to a single door at the very end, which swung open upon his arrival. Cutter gulped down his fear and walked through the door, struggling to remain composed. Across the room, which appeared to be the battle plot for the gym, sat Sabrina. Even from so far away, Cutter could feel the psychic energy flowing out from her. She was sitting on a large purple, throne-like chair and when she saw Cutter, she stood and floated to him. Cutter had to do a double-take. _No, she's actually floating_ , Cutter told himself. And she was tall, too.

 _Mr. Robinson. Hello._ She was inside his head. _It's so nice of you to come here so quickly upon your arrival in Saffron. I was hoping you wouldn't dawdle in getting here. But I sense you are one of great ambition and you have a most interesting future ahead of you._

"I-."

 _Please, in your mind. I can read your thoughts if you direct them towards me. I have a bit of a headache and the sound only makes it worse._

 _Of course. I'm here to speak to you about Nostradamus, my Girafarig._

 _Yes, yes. Grace called me to let me know that you would be coming in with your Girafarig, but she didn't elaborate and I didn't press her. What is it that you would like to talk about?_

 _Nostradamus imprinted upon me and we've been having some trouble._

"Imprinted?" Cutter heard her mutter and a sharp pain shot through his head.

"Yes," Cutter said, venturing to speak out loud.

 _I'm sorry. Please go back to thoughts. I did not mean to speak out loud. Please continue._

Cutter then went into great detail, telling the story from the moment he met Nostradamus and Praagh a little less than a month before, and everything that had happened, sparing no details.

She was silent for a moment. _I would like to preface this by saying that you are an incredibly lucky young man. Pokemon rarely ever imprint upon humans, and psychics imprinting are even more rare. Lance's Dratini, his starter, imprinted upon him, and he used to be the Champion, if that gives you any context to how incredible this feat is. But the fact that yours is a psychic type makes it that much more awe inducing. I know of Praagh. I am sad to hear of his death, but it is comforting to know that you are the trainer of his lineage. If Praagh trusted you enough to pass his grandson down to you. Imprinting. It is a difficult topic, as are Mind Links._ There was a brief pause before she continued. _Before we begin, may I meet Nostradamus?_

 _Of course._

Cutter released Nostradamus, his pure white coat standing out in the especially dim room. He heard her breathe a sigh of awe. Cutter had gotten quite used to this reaction when people first saw Nos. Cutter even felt that way still, each time he saw his beautiful Girafarig.

There was a moment where Nostradamus and Sabrina made eye contact and Cutter assumed they were communicating, and as quickly as their telepathic conversation had started, it ended. A flood of warmth and excitement like Cutter had never felt from Nos entered him. Sabrina brought something out in him. That was understandable. The awe Nos had expressed earlier that day showed Cutter that Sabrina was someone that psychic pokemon held in very high regard.

 _Father. Thank you._

 _Of course, Nos._

 _So._ Sabrina began. Cutter thought that it might be hard to distinguish their mental voices, but while Sabrina's was soft and strong, Nostradamus's was young and playful. Even mental voices had their own distinct sounds. _Let us begin with imprinting. That will help explain the Mind Link._ When neither of them said, or thought, anything, she continued. _Imprinting is incredibly rare, as I've already said. It occurs when a pokemon shows a greater trust in a human than the average pokemon might. Girafarig are known for their ability in portraying and dealing with emotions, as I'm sure you know. So Nostradamus and Praagh were able to pick you out and see that you have a pure and good heart. They knew that you would care for Nostradamus greatly. Even though Nostradamus had yet to meet you, since he was so young, he latched onto you. This takes an incredible amount of trust from a Girafarig, especially one in the lineage of Praagh. Nostradamus had, more than likely, seen its fair share of bad trainers, good trainers, mean trainers, and kind trainers. Both Praagh and Nostradamus knew that this was not enough. They needed a pure trainer._

 _That's where I came in,_ Cutter thought.

 _Exactly,_ Sabrina confirmed. _You have a pure heart and the potential to be an incredible trainer. I was able to see that from the moment you entered the city. There are very few completely pure hearted trainers in the world, so when one enters my city, I am easily able to pick up on it. But in imprinting, Nostradamus connected himself with you. Essentially, the two of you became of one mind. You have separate bodies, but your minds are connected. That's where the Mind Link comes in. Since Nostradamus imprinted, a Mind Link was bound to come about eventually. It was probably there from the moment you two met, but did not appear until later. Probably not until he was able to speak directly with you._ Cutter nodded. _A Mind Link is not as rare as imprinting is, but it does require a great deal of trust between pokemon and trainer, which you two obviously have. A Mind Link just allows the two of you to be especially connected in battle. Since you two are one, you rarely will need to give orders. Nostradamus will know what you want and you will know what he wants. I would trust him. He is an incredibly intelligent and potentially powerful psychic type with excellent battle instincts. As for the pain, that is relatively simple. Grow used to it. It is all in your head. Usually I hate that argument, but in this case, it is true. You are not truly experiencing the pain that Nostradamus is, just a fragment of what he is feeling. You will learn to block it out as your psychic abilities grow._

"My psychic abilities?" Cutter asked, out loud, too shocked to realize he was no longer thinking it.

 _Yes. Your psychic abilities. You are not a born psychic, but since Nostradamus has imprinted on you, and you two have become one, you are what we call a "Made Psychic." That just means that you had an event that turned you into a psychic. In your case, that event is Nostradamus. Don't worry, though. You will not carry the existential burden that most psychics carry._ Cutter could have sworn she was making a joke, but it was hard to tell. _And you don't have to develop your powers very far, just enough for you to be the best trainer possible for Nostradamus. Nostradamus will need this from you. He is going to have a hard time on your team._

 _What do you mean?_

 _I shall not disclose the future, but I will say one thing. Your team will not lend itself towards psychic types. You will have to be there for Nostradamus._

 _I don't understand what you're saying, but just know that I will be the best trainer I can be. Nostradamus is in good hands._

 _I believe you. Now, one more thing before you go._

 _Yes?_

 _I would like to battle Nostradamus. He is a spectacular and beautiful psychic type that I would love the honor of battling before-._

 _Before what?_

 _Nothing, Mr. Robinson, that you need to concern yourself with. A battle?_

Cutter froze. At the height of Sabrina's power she could have easily been in the Elite Four. She may not be nearly as strong as she used to be, but she was certainly stronger than Cutter was.

 _No need to worry. This is merely a test for your Girafarig._

Cutter breathed a sigh of relief. _Of course, then._

xx

They took their places at opposite ends of the battlefield, the plot a simple purple rubber. He had never battled on anything like this before, but if any of his pokemon could adapt to a new battlefield on the fly, it was Nostradamus.

Nostradamus stepped forward onto the field, testing out its give. It was springy, but not enough so that it would change the way he moved.

On the other end of the field appeared an Alakazam. Cutter gulped. He knew this was only a test for Nostradamus, but still. Sabrina's starter pokemon, this Alakazam, was the strongest psychic type pokemon in all of both Kanto and Johto. Sabrina had challenged Lance years ago, when they were both in their prime, and was the first person to ever truly give Lance a run for his money. Lance had had to quickly adapt to Sabrina's wordless battle style. It had eventually come down to Alakazam and Dragonite, both of their strongest pokemon and starters, but ultimately Lance came out on top, even if just barely.

Alakazam was past its prime now, but it was still far more powerful than any pokemon Cutter had. He knew that realistically there was no way to win, but he and Nos would still do their best. He saw Nos ready himself. Nervousness flowed from Nos. He knew how powerful this Alakazam was and he didn't want to disappoint either Cutter or Sabrina. Especially Sabrina.

 _Are you ready to begin?_

Cutter didn't reply, simply nodded. His game face was on and he was as ready as he could be. He was a little worried that she would read his mind and predict his every move, but he figured she had more integrity than that. More so than that, she had been battling for forty years, and he had only been for a little less than three months. She didn't need to read his mind.

 _Nos, be ready. This thing is powerful._ Both of their eyes glowed red, signifying the Mind Link.

 _Yes, Father. I can feel its power._

 _Hypnosis!_

 _Riiiiii_

A weak psychic beam along with the slight whinny flowed out from between Nos's horns to create the hypnosis, and surprisingly it reached the Alakazam. It managed to do nothing, though. Cutter grimaced and racked his brain. They certainly had their work cut out for them.

 _An excellent hypnosis for being so young, although he still has far to go. What will you show me next?_ Sabrina's thoughts invaded his mind, but Cutter pushed them to the side. Even if this was simply a showing for Nos, he wanted to do his best.

 _Dazzling gleam to get in close, then zen headbutt._

A bright pink wave of fairy energy flowed out from between Nostradamus's horns, striking the Alakazam, although it didn't seem to be doing much other than annoying it. That was the point of it, though.

As the fairy type move merely annoyed Alakazam, Nos galloped in. Once he was close enough he leaped forward and right as he was going to use zen headbutt, Alakazam teleported behind Nos, leaving Nostradamus lunging at empty air.

 _A good strategy, but not enough._ Cutter pushed Sabrina from his mind and turned his attention back to Nos.

Agility was not a move he called on for Nos to use often, but Alakazam knew teleport and he had to try to outspeed the teleport however he could. _Agility._

At the command, Nos began jogging around the field, slowly getting faster and faster until he was little more than a blur. He wasn't anywhere near as fast as Bellow was, but he didn't need to be. He was going to be far bigger and bulkier than Bellow ever would be and wouldn't need to rely on speed as much.

Before yesterday, Cutter didn't think that Nos would ever need to rely on speed. But after the humiliating loss at the hands of Wylie, Cutter realized that he would need his pokemon to do far more than all out attacking. And that could start right here with Nos getting faster.

 _Confusion, bind Alakazam._

A weak wave of psy energy came from wherever Nos happened to be in the moment, flying towards Alakazam. It hit, seeming to freeze Alakazam in place.

 _Now, Zen Headbutt._

Once again, as soon as Nos headbutted, Alakazam was gone and behind him.

 _Keep it up._

This went on for a few more times before Cutter decided to take a chance.

 _Same thing with the confusion, but fake your zen headbutt and use your tail-end head to use crunch._

Nos nodded in reply and released another confusion. This time, Nos faked a lunge forward for the zen headbutt, to which Sabrina replied, _the same strategy that hasn't worked before will not work now. I thought you were better than this._ Cutter just smiled.

Alakazam, as Cutter predicted, teleported right behind Nos, where his tail-end head was waiting. Nos's tail-end head chomped down with a mouth cloaked in dark type energy on Alakazam's wrist, eliciting an annoyed grunt from Alakazam.

 _Ahh. Excellent thinking. You led me on. Smart. But it's time for this to be over._

 _NOS GET OUT OF THERE!_

Nos's tail-end head let go and he galloped away quickly, still assisted by the agility. Alakazam's senses were far too advanced for agility to be an effective means of escape, and the Alakazam released a highly pressurized focus blast at exactly where Nos's blurry figure was about to step.

Both Cutter and Nostradamus collapsed at the same time, and Cutter returned him in a hurry. He pulled himself to his feet and smiled begrudgingly as Sabrina appeared next to him.

 _Excellent battle._

 _Thank you._ Cutter bowed his head. _It was an honor._

Alakazam floated over and hovered behind Sabrina as the two of them communicated telepathically. _Nostradamus has incredible potential, Mr. Robinson. Don't waste it. He is a fine psychic type and he has the potential to rival even Zu here._ She gestured to Alakazam. _Once you finish your gym challenge in Johto I would like for you to come back to this gym and hone your psychic powers alongside Nostradamus._

 _I would be honored, ma'am._ Cutter smiled. His second mentorship in two days. How had he managed that? He figured that if he pinched himself, he would be awoken from the dream.

 _Well, I will be going now, but I wish you all the best. If you need anything during your time in Kanto, you know where to find me._ And she was gone. Apparently, she could teleport, too.

xx

Getting back to the Pokemon Center proved to be a lot more difficult than coming from it. After thirty minutes of wandering around without any sign of the Center, Cutter sat down on a crate next to a dumpster in an alleyway. _I just want to go back and train._

Out of nowhere, a large ball dropped right next to him, making a loud _SMACK_ sound. It scared Cutter so badly he fell off the crate, banging his head against the dumpster.

 _HEEAHEEAHEEA_

"What the hell?" Cutter muttered, looking up and rubbing the back of his throbbing skull. The sun shone brightly directly into his eyes and all he could see was the faint silhouette of what appeared to be a pokemon with a large bushy tail clinging to the fire escape of the building. It was a pokemon of some sort, Cutter figured, but he couldn't think of which pokemon it might be that would be found in Kanto. _Maybe Aipom? No. It's too big to be Aipom._

The ball came soaring back down, startling him out of his thoughts. It bounced hard and flew back up to the pokemon, who caught it easily. He released Rillo and told her to be on guard. He had no idea what pokemon this was and what it might be capable of.

The mystery pokemon leapt down, landing on its two back legs, the old raggedy soccer ball clutched in its front two hands. Cutter cocked his head in confusion. He was sure he had never seen this pokemon before, and it certainly wasn't native to Kanto or Johto.

It had a brown torso, feet and ankles, half of its arms, hands, and snout. The lower half of its body along with the fluff of its neck and face were what Cutter figured used to be white. Now, though, it was black with oil and dirt from the city. Its long puffy tail had a single white ring halfway up, but otherwise that was brown as well. On the top of its head it wore what appeared to be a yellow construction hard hat. It was similar to an Infernape, but it was obvious to Cutter that this pokemon in front of him was not an Infernape. Cutter noticed that when it ran, it ran on all fours, even though it was bipedal and humanoid when it stood and even when it walked. When it walked, however, it had an odd gait, slouching and twisting its body in an odd manner.

 _HEEAHEEAHEEA_

It tossed the soccer ball to Cutter lightly and ran and picked up Rillo. It spun her around before setting her back down and screeching out its _HEEAHEEAHEEA_ again. Rillo looked over at him with alarm, not used to random pokemon behaving like this. Bellow sometimes played with her in this same manner, and that's the only reason she didn't shock the pokemon. That and the fact that her Master hadn't told her to. But to Cutter, it seemed that the pokemon just wanted to play.

"You wanna play?" Cutter asked the mysterious pokemon.

"HEEAHEEAHEEA _,"_ it screeched, jumping from foot to foot and nodding its head vigorously, confirming Cutter's suspicions.

Cutter smiled and tossed the ball back to it, and in turn it tossed the ball to Rillo. She barely caught it with her stubby arms, and she tossed it to Cutter. Cutter laughed at the image of his Flaaffy playing catch. They played for a couple of minutes, and each time the mystery pokemon threw and caught the ball, it yelled out its "HEEAHEEAHEEA" and jumped up and down in delight. All the while Cutter racked his mind, trying to come up with what pokemon this was, but he was having no luck.

"I've gotta go. It was fun playing with you, though," Cutter told the pokemon as he turned to walk away.

 _HEEAHEEAHEEA_

"What?" Cutter asked it.

It gestured to Cutter, then pulled its arms back to itself.

"I don't know what you're saying," Cutter admitted to it, feeling defeated. If Nostradamus wasn't fainted, he could translate for him.

It ran over to Cutter, on all fours Cutter noticed, and pointed to Cutter's belt, where his pokeballs were connected.

"My pokeballs? What about them?"

Again, the foreign pokemon made the same gesture.

"Oh!" Cutter exclaimed, it finally dawning on him. "Do you want to come with me? Do you want to be my pokemon?"

The moment Cutter said that, it let out the screech Cutter had gotten used to over the last few minutes and jumped up and down.

"Alright then." Cutter unclipped an empty pokeball from his waist, no point in using a great or ultra ball on a pokemon that wouldn't resist capture, and pressed it against the pokemon's forehead, sucking it in in a flash of red light. He kept spare pokeballs on his belt for situations in which he wouldn't have time to dig around in his backpack for a pokeball. Usually the pokemon trainers tried to catch would run off before the trainer would have a chance to do that, so it made sense to have a few easily accessible. He always kept a spare pokeball, great ball, and ultra ball clipped to his waist, just in case.

The ball wiggled once in Cutter's hand before coming to a complete stop. Cutter smiled at his newest capture. None of his captures were normal, it seemed. Rillo had been rescued from a storm, Nos had imprinted upon him, and this strange humanoid pokemon with the soccer ball and hard hat, that also entered the pokeball, which Cutter found interesting, had chosen him for seemingly unknown reasons. Cutter just laughed at it and returned Rillo who looked just as confused as he did. He would take his pokemon however he could get them. As he exited the alley he pulled out his Pokedex to check out his new capture. He was eager to figure out what kind of pokemon it was.

 _Passimian. The Teamwork Pokemon. Passimian are a fighting type pokemon that is native to Alola. They generally form groups of roughly twenty individuals, but if a Passimian is unable to handle the intensity of the troop, it will flee. In place of a troop leader, it will search out a trainer for leadership. This Passimian is male and knows the moves Bulk Up, Brick Break, Protect, Return, Low Sweep, Rock Slide, U-Turn, and Iron Head. Its ability is Receiver, which allows it to pick up on a fainted ally's ability._

"Passimian," Cutter muttered, putting his Pokedex away. He knew literally nothing about the species except for what the Pokedex just told him. He would have to do some research and ask Regina. She was from Alola, after all. _What is this Passimian doing in Kanto? It's a long way from home. Maybe… It used to have a trainer that released it? It does have an exceptional movepool. There's no way it learned iron head or return on its own in the wild. Hm. I'll have to ask Nurse Joy if I can ever find my way back to the Pokemon Center._ Cutter smiled as a thought hit him. _A fighting type. Wylie won't know what hit him._

xx

Over an hour later and Cutter finally found the Pokemon Center he was staying in. Eventually he had entered a large glass building called Silph Co., a famous technology company, and Cutter asked the receptionist how to get to the Pokemon Center where he was staying. She had pointed him in the right direction, and after that it only took another five minutes to get there.

Cutter dropped off Passimian and Nostradamus with Nurse Joy to be healed. He sat in the lobby as he waited. "It would only be five to ten minutes," she told him.

Sure enough, ten minutes later and he heard his name being called over the loudspeaker.

"Thank you so much, Nurse Joy."

"Of course, Mr. Robinson. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually," Cutter said, holding Passimian's pokeball. "I just caught this Passimian today here in Saffron, and I want some information on him. The Pokedex told me the basics, but I was wondering if you could tell me if he has had a trainer before me."

"You caught Passimian here? They're not native to Kanto at all, but I can check. Can I see his pokeball?" Cutter handed her the pokeball and she placed in in a magnetic tray that was connected to the computer.

"Passimian are native to Alola," she began. "And their natural habitat is the jungle. It doesn't make any sense for it to be here in Saffron in Kanto. May I ask where you caught it?"

Cutter paused, thinking. "I honestly don't know. I was so lost that I have no idea. In an alleyway?"

She furrowed her brow, thinking. "Did he approach you, or did you pursue him?"

"He approached me. He wanted to play. He had a soccer ball and a hard hat on. I wanted to ask about that as well."

"Passimian are notoriously playful pokemon. Even though they're fighting types, they love to play. It makes sense that he approached you. As for the soccer ball and hard hat, it is a lot like a Marowak and its club." Seeing Cutter's confused face, she continued. "Marowak have a club that they keep with them. It is not a direct part of its pokemon, but you will rarely, if ever, find a Marowak in the wild without a bone club. Passimian are the same way. Almost always they have a coconut and a coconut shell to wear on its head. In your case, it's a soccer ball and a hard hat. Since Passimian is living in Saffron, it has no access to coconuts. But in order for it to keep its identity as a Passimian, it felt that it needed some sort of ball and helmet."

"I see," Cutter murmured.

The computer dinged and Nurse Joy pursed her lips. "Hm. It seems that Passimian has had another trainer, although it was not treated particularly well. I cannot tell you who this trainer is, for legal purposes, but the trainer was very powerful. He recently made a trip to Alola and that is where he caught Passimian. He has a very strict training program, and it appears that Passimian did not meet his standards. So he released Passimian here in Saffron. This was approximately three or four weeks ago. So its powerful and diverse movepool makes sense, as does its willingness to approach you and play. But this trainer is not known for playing with his pokemon. He simply wants them to become stronger."

Cutter was silent for a moment. "Thank you Nurse Joy. Is there anything else that I should know?"

"You said he played with you very enthusiastically?"

"Yes he did," Cutter told her, confused where she was going with this.

"Passimian are very smart pokemon. He is probably very hurt by his previous trainer abandoning him, and this enthusiasm is a front he is putting up. You seem like a caring and compassionate young man. Be sure to let Passimian you care for and love him. Play with him. You can be hard on him, but all pokemon grow in different ways. If you show Passimian that you truly care for him as a pokemon and not just as a battler, he will become exceptionally powerful and loyal." Cutter nodded in response. "But you're going to have to get past that façade first."

"Thank you Nurse Joy. You were a lot of help." Cutter bowed his head and walked away.

xx

Cutter walked into his room at the Center, tossing Passimian's pokeball up and down in his hand.

 _How best to go about this? I could easily go about this the wrong way and ruin any chance of friendship and trust. I have to be careful._

He tossed Passimian's pokeball out and Passimian appeared, immediately letting loose with one of its "HEAHEAHEA's" and tossing the soccer ball up and down.

"Hey, Passimian. How are you?" Cutter asked, reaching his hand out towards Passimian. Passimian took his hand and grunted softly.

"You're on my team now. I caught you." Cutter paused. Normally he would tell the pokemon he just captured that he wanted them to join his team and together they would become the strongest they could be. He didn't think that would work with Passimian. This Passimian desired friendship and love, and in return would give strength. Nurse Joy had said that all pokemon grew differently, and Cutter knew it to be true.

"On this team, we have a lot of fun together. We train and we play and laugh and have a good time. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?

"HEAHEAHEA," Passimian screeched, bobbing its head up and down in a nodding manner.

"We also battle, too. But the most important thing on this team is love. You will never have to do anything you don't want to."

Passimian dropped the soccer ball and leapt forward, wrapping Cutter up in a hug. Passimian was almost a foot taller than him and was very strong, and he nearly knocked Cutter off balance with the sudden hug. Still, Cutter returned it. When they pulled away, he noticed that his clothes were dirty.

"How do you feel about a bath?" Cutter smiled.

xx

The bath went extremely well, at least as far as Cutter was concerned. As it turned out, Passimian absolutely loved water and didn't mind soap. The bathroom was absolutely wrecked when they were done, however. Passimian loved throwing water and soap at Cutter, and before either of them knew it, they were having an all out water war in the bathroom. By the end of it Cutter was sitting in a pool of water on the floor, laughing as Passimian completely emptied a tiny bottle of shampoo onto the ground.

For the bath, Passimian had taken off its hard hat and the fur under that was white as well. After Cutter dried Passimian, his fur poofed up, making Passimian almost unrecognizable. Cutter couldn't help but falling into another fit of laughter that Passimian didn't understand.

When he finally regained composure and Passimian was smoothing its fur out, Cutter decided to ask him about a nickname. After that Cutter wanted to go down to one of the battle plots and get a general assessment of Passimian's skills.

"What do you say about a nickname?"

Passimian cocked his head as if thinking before quickly answering with a soft grunt and nodding its head. Cutter figured that his previous trainer hadn't been concerned with nicknames. Nicknames generally were a sign of love and equality. Trainers that didn't nickname often, but not always, saw their pokemon as lesser beings only meant for battle. That was the exact opposite of Cutter's mindset.

Cutter furrowed his brow as he thought. Then it hit him. With Passimian's awkward way of standing, the way he always carried the soccer ball, and the hard hat, he looked a lot like a football player. "How about Patriot?" Cutter asked, the name coming from his favorite professional football team. He didn't watch a lot of football, but he always sat down to watch the Patriots with his dad every Sunday evening.

Immediately Passimian screeched and jumped up and down, obviously excited.

Cutter smiled. "Patriot it is, then."

xx

Cutter and Patriot stepped onto the battle plot with another trainer named Gordon. Gordon had been training on another battle plot and Cutter wanted to test Patriot's skills. Both Silver and Bellow would be weak against Patriot. Nostradamus had a type advantage, but he didn't want Patriot battling with a disadvantage against one of his own teammates for his first battle. And Rillo just wouldn't stand a chance. Even though Patriot was new to the team, it was obvious he was strong.

"One on one?" Gordon, a tall and lanky kid that looked to be roughly Cutter's age, asked. Gordon had three badges from in Kanto and Cutter figured that they would be roughly on the same level.

"Yep. I just caught Passimian today and I want to see where he stands."

Gordon nodded, releasing a blue water type onto the field. Poliwhirl.

"You can have the first move," Cutter told him.

"Lily, use water gun!"

A blast of pressurized water flew from the Poliwhirl's swirled stomach, but Patriot easily leapt out of the way.

"Iron head!"

 _HEAHEAHEA_

Patriot ran towards Lily, throwing his soccer ball as he got closer. Lily deflected the soccer ball with one of her white gloved fists, and Patriot capitalized on the momentary distraction by slamming his head, hardened by iron head and the hard hat, into the face of the Poliwhirl who stumbled backwards but remained standing.

"Mega punch!"

"Dodge and low sweep!"

Patriot easily ducked below the mega punch and threw his leg out, sweeping Lily off her feet. Patriot took advantage of the fallen Poliwhirl and struck out with a brick break, knocking Poliwhirl unconscious.

Cutter's mouth hung open. He knew that Passimian would be strong, but he hadn't realized just how strong he was. He had taken out that Poliwhirl with just three moves.

"You just caught Passimian today?" Gordon asked, returning Poliwhirl?  
"Yeah," Cutter replied, a smile creeping across his face.

"You've got one strong pokemon, dude." And with that, Gordon left.

"PATRIOT! You did so good! Wow! You're really strong." Cutter was absolutely beaming now, and Patriot ran up to him. Cutter began scratching his back and couldn't help but think of how well he had done. He hadn't been hit by a single move. Patriot was much faster than Cutter had thought he would be, and he was stronger too. Cutter was getting excited. Patriot was going to make for an excellent addition to the team. He frowned though, because while Patriot had done amazing, Cutter hadn't had a chance to see what Patriot was truly capable of. He would have to find another trainer tomorrow.

xx

Regina returned to the room as Cutter was cleaning the bathroom and Patriot was jumping up and down on the bed with Rillo. He had just introduced Patriot to everyone and was happy with how their meeting had gone. Silver and Bellow thought he was fine, Cutter could tell. They didn't have the same nature as the lively Passimian did, and that was okay. Nostradamus thought he was fine as well, but he could tell that Nos would grow to like Patriot more. _He is very… excited._ Nos had told him, to which Cutter just laughed. The true friendship that had blossomed though was Rillo and Patriot. The two had been inseparable since they had been out in the room together, and they had not stopped playing.

Cutter had stopped to talk to Nurse Joy again on his way to his room and had discovered that Patriot's former trainer had seven gym badges when he had been released. That meant that even though Cutter only had two badges, he had a seventh level pokemon. Within the world of competitive battling in Johto and Kanto, there were eleven levels. One for each gym, one for the Elite Four, and one for the Champion. The eleventh and final level was one for all of the people battling competitively that were no longer in their gym challenge but were also not Elite Status. This was different in other regions, but in Johto that's how it was. If Patriot wasn't as happy and fun and accepting of a pokemon as he was, Cutter might have a hard time controlling him. But since Patriot was already so taken with Cutter, he had no reason to disrespect him. A pokemon with a less trusting and more angry nature wouldn't be the same. He had heard horror stories about trainers catching pokemon that they couldn't control. The best-case scenario was that they disobeyed their trainers in battle. Cutter didn't even want to think about the worst-case scenarios. He didn't want to have to deal with something like that. Cutter thanked Arceus that Patriot was so wonderful.

"Whoa," Regina breathed, spotting Patriot. "That's a Passimian."

Cutter stuck his head out of the bathroom, his face plastered with a smile. "Yep!" Then Cutter recounted the whole story, all the way from smacking his head into the dumpster, which Regina laughed out loud at, to the moment he had introduced Patriot to the rest of the team.

"That's incredible, Cutter. Passimian are super strong pokemon in Alola. You're super lucky. And this one is so happy, too." She laughed as Patriot searched through her hair, probably for bugs of some sort. He had finally settled down a little bit and was no longer jumping on Cutter's bed.

"Yeah, I'm super excited. He's awesome. Aren't you awesome?" Cutter smiled, scratching Patriot's back. Patriot responded with a typical speech and leapt to Cutter, wrapping his arms around his trainer. "Strong too. Seventh level. He's going to be an awesome addition to the team."

Regina nodded, pulling out a pokeball. "I caught a new pokemon today too," she smiled, releasing a Tangela onto the bed. The purple vines that covered its body squirmed as it leapt into its trainer's lap. "Her name is Squib, and she certainly made me work to catch her."

"Where did you catch her?" Cutter asked. "I don't imagine that Saffron is crawling with grass types.

"I went north of the city! I was doing some training and Squib here wandered up and watched her. When I asked if she wanted to join my team, she agreed, but she made it obvious that she wanted me to battle her for it. I used Fists and, well, let's just say that they have a bit of a rivalry now." Regina laughed as Squib squirmed in her lap at the sound of the Machop's name. "I thought about Vill or Sally, but the type advantage would have made things too easy."

xx

Cutter was lying in bed, thinking about the day. Together, he and Regina had nine pokemon, so the room was cramped, to say the least. Patriot slept curled up, his soccer ball tucked neatly under his head like a pillow and his hard hat covering his eyes, in the corner next to Rillo, who was hooked up to the wall for electricity. Silver sat upright on a pillow on the ground and Bellow was curled up next to Cutter on the bed. Cutter's bed was especially cramped. Even though this bed was bigger than the one that Johto Pokemon Center's generally provided, that didn't change the fact that Bellow took up more than half of the bed, leaving Cutter with a just a sliver of bed. Squib was under Regina's bed, and Vill slept in the bathtub. Fists sat in a meditation pose right in front of the door, and Sally slept at the foot of Regina's bed. In all, it was a cramped room, but neither of the trainers would have it any other way. Sleeping with their teams out had become a way of life. They didn't feel the same without them out.

At first they had had a few qualms about sharing a room, but the Pokemon Center and Nurse Joy decided for them. It was the beginnings of many journeys in Kanto and almost every single room in the Center was being used. Nurse Joy told them sternly that if they were traveling together, they needed to share a room. They were okay with it, though because they clicked well from the beginning and they each saw how they treated their pokemon. People who treated their pokemon well could generally be trusted.

Cutter sat on his bed, happy with the turn his team had taken that day with the addition of Patriot. Cutter and Regina had decided to spend another day in Kanto before heading back to Johto. The bug catching contest was in four days and neither Cutter nor Regina wanted to miss it. Strong bug pokemon could be hard to come by and both of them certainly wouldn't mind one.

Tomorrow, they would train. They had a lot of work to do before challenging Wylie again, and Cutter had a lot of ideas about how to utilize Patriot. He knew he didn't want to lean on Patriot as a handicap. As strong as Patriot was, Cutter could easily allow the rest of his pokemon to fall behind if he depended on Patriot too much. He drifted off planning the specifics of the training they would do. There was no better way to fall asleep, in Cutter's opinion.

xx

 **Hey! Thanks to everyone for reading! I loved writing this chapter and the new pokemon that Cutter caught! I have been looking forward to this new addition for a while and I'm happy that I finally got to write it! Thanks to Melior for proof reading this chapter! As usual, leave a review and a like or follow and PM me if you want to talk! I'm always happy to discuss the story!**


	10. The Train

Cutter stepped into the bustling lobby of the Pokemon Center in Saffron City, well rested from the previous night's sleep. For once his pokemon had allowed him to sleep in. It seemed that they were just as tired as their trainer. Regina and her team had left while Cutter and his team still slept, and Cutter was grateful that they had left so quietly.

"Mr. Robinson," Cutter heard his name being called. He looked around and made eye contact with the Nurse Joy standing behind the counter. He forced his way through the crowd, not without suffering a few elbows to the ribs, before making it to her. "You have a few calls." She handed him a slip of paper with two names and phone numbers. One of which was his mother. The other was Wylie. He was dreading the conversation with his mother. He hadn't spoken to her in months and he could only imagine how she was going to react. But he had no idea how she had learned where he was. Only Wylie, Regina, Sabrina and Nurse Joy knew he was in the Kanto region.

Wylie, on the other hand. Well, he had no idea why Wylie was calling. He wouldn't mind the conversation though. He found himself blushing at the thought and forced it from his mind.

He smiled at the pink haired lady. "Thank you, Nurse Joy."

xx

Cutter sat down at the video phone, Patriot by his side. Even though he was only going to be talking on the phone, he wanted to get as much time with his newest team member as possible.

 _Patriot was loving it, too. He and Cutter had clicked extremely well very quickly. He liked his new trainer. He might have to teach Friend to lighten up sometimes, but it could be done,_ Patriot figured.

Plus, Cutter figured that seeing a pokemon would soften the anger his mother was inevitably harboring against him. _Well, here goes nothing._ He typed the number in and almost immediately his mother's voice and the sound of a mass of people sounded from the computer, but the video screen remained blank.

"Cutter! Hello!" She sounded very happy and not at all angry like Cutter was expecting which was a relief.

"Hey, mom." A pause. "Why can't I see you? And what's all that noise"

"Well, I'm not by a video phone. I'm on my new cell phone!" His mother was practically giddy with excitement and Cutter truly didn't understand what was happening. He had a few questions, to say the least.

"You got a cell phone?" was the first one he asked.

"Yes! And your father and I have some VERY big news! Dear, say hello to Cutter."

"Hello!" came his father's voice, sounding rather far off.

"Hey, dad!" He turned his voice back to his mother, "What's the big news, mom?"

"I want to tell you in person!"

"Well, I won't be back in Cherrygrove for quite a while. Can't you-."

"We're in Saffron!"

"What?! What are you doing here?" Cutter asked, shocked. "And how did you find me?"

"Meet us at the Polter Park, dear! We're at the Southernmost entrance!" And then she hung up.

"What the hell?" he asked Patriot, whose only response was to bounce the soccer ball and laugh in his typical _AhAhAh_ fashion. _Wylie's call will just have to wait._

xx

Thirty minutes later and Cutter was walking up to the Southernmost entrance of Polter Park, where his parents said to meet them. Patriot was walking along beside Cutter, his hard hat pulled back and his soccer ball wrapped up in his long, limb-like tail.

"Cutter!" Cutter turned and saw his mother rushing towards him, arms outstretched, and his father walking behind her, grinning slyly. They both knew that his mother could be a tad… overdramatic, to say the least.

"Mom!" he said, smiling, before the air was crushed out of him by her Ursaring-tight hug.

After what seemed like forever but in reality was probably only like twenty seconds, she finally released him, but her smile was bigger than Cutter had ever seen it before. "How are you?" she asked. "Why haven't you called? We've missed you so much but I didn't want to intrude on your journey. I knew you would call on your own time. But your father and I have some VERY big news, like I said, and we just HAD to tell you in person! I-."

"Let the kid breathe, honey," his dad said, laughing. His mother's eyes looked dejected but she perked back up quickly. "Shall we go find a place to sit and visit?"

xx

It took a few minutes, but they finally found a relatively calm, bright clearing in the park. It was the beginning of summer, Cutter realized, and children ran around, playing with their family's pet Growlithe or the occasional Skitty, both popular pet pokemon in Johto. His first summer vacation as a trainer.

"You know this park was named after one of the founders of Saffron. Jeffrey Polter," his mother informed him as they sat. Patriot ran about, playing with his soccer ball on his own. Occasionally he would toss it to a child who would laugh and toss it back to Patriot before running off to find their mother or Growlithe again.

"I had no idea, mom," Cutter laughed. "So, how did you guys find me?"

"Well, I called Bugsy," his father explained, "and he told me you had beaten him, so I figured the next stop for you would be Goldenrod and, subsequently, Whitney's gym. So, I called, and turns out Whitney isn't the leader anymore! It's her son, Wylie. I remember when he was just a kid."

"Yeah, dad." Cutter could already feel himself blushing just the sound of Wylie's name, but he coughed into his sleeve to try and hide it from his parents. He looked up and his father continued talking, seemingly oblivious, but his mother stared at him. They shared a look that said "we'll talk later." Cutter fully planned on avoiding that talk altogether.

"Well, then Wylie told us that you had gone to Saffron, so we called Sabrina, who was a little harder to get in touch with. Apparently, she doesn't like phones. Who knew? But once we got ahold of her she told us what Pokemon Center you were staying at!" His dad was beaming and he couldn't help but smile too. He truly was a lucky guy to have parents that supported and cared so much about him.

"And we had just such big news," his mom added on, "that we just had to come and tell you person!"

"So you've said," Cutter groaned, his mom having said the same thing for the third time.

"But first, I want to meet all of your pokemon, Cutter!" his mom squeaked excitedly. "The last I saw, you just had your cute little Teddiursa and Silver!"

"I am also interested in which pokemon you've caught. We heard about your win in the Goldenrod Tournament, but other than that, we didn't catch any details," his father said before adding on, "other than the fact that you have an albino Girafarig. Practically everyone in Johto knows. I must hear the story about that one." Cutter groaned inwardly. If everyone in Johto knew that he had a pure white Girafarig, that couldn't be good.

"Well, you've already met Patriot," Cutter smiled, forcing that from his mind. Patriot heard his name and came bounding over.

" _AHAHAH,_ " Patriot screeched happily, baring his teeth the way Passimian did, and tossing his soccer ball to Cutter's dad. Baring their teeth was Passimian's version of smiling. It was something both Passimian and the Infernape evolutionary line shared, Cutter had learned after looking up why Passimian did this in his Pokedex. They, according to his Pokedex, had a common ancestor. But when some of the ancestor was taken to Sinnoh and some to Alola, they evolved and adapted differently, hence the two different pokemon in the two different regions.

"He loves to play," Cutter told them, scratching Patriot between the shoulder blades.

"I see that," his dad said, laughing. He was obviously reminiscing on his younger days, back when he was a trainer.

"And here is everyone else!" Cutter released the rest of his pokemon into the grass around him. Once his pokemon materialized, he told them, "Hey, team! These are my parents!"

The next several minutes were spent introducing his pokemon to his parents. They all took to his parents extremely well and his mother was in love with Nostradamus.

"He's beautiful, Cutter!" She had said, gesturing towards the pure white pokemon that she had begun brushing.

 _Father, I like her,_ Nos had told him with a slight smirk. Cutter just smiled and rushes of love washed over him from Nostradamus. He would never get used to that feeling, and he couldn't help but hope that Nostradamus could feel the love emanating from him as well.

Cutter's father was entranced with Patriot. "A seventh level pokemon, Cutter? That's incredible." There was a pause. "Would you like to have a one on one battle?"

Cutter's smile grew. He didn't think that he would be able to battle with his father for quite some time, for obvious skill differences. His father's pokemon were powerful, albeit old. That was the only reason Patriot would even be able to stand a chance. He was young and spry. He had youth on his side.

"Yes!"

"Now, dear?" his mother asked, not even looking up from Nostradamus.

"Yes, mom!"

"Come on, dear. It has been so long since I've had a battle. And having one against my own son? I've only dreamed of this day," his father argued, just as excited for the battle as Cutter.

She sighed, "Fine." But she was smiling nonetheless.

xx

Cutter and his father took their places some ways away from each other and Patriot ran out in front of Cutter, screeching happily. On the other end of their makeshift field, Cutter's father released his Primeape, Pygmaleon. Pygmaleon, a squat tan fighting type with a snout-like nose and large gloved hands, grunted at Cutter. They used to play together often.

Cutter frowned. As much as he liked Pygmaleon, the Primeape was very strong. He was on his father's team when he was in the finals of the Silver Conference all those years ago.

"Patriot, he's strong. Watch out."

"Pygmaleon, I know it's been a while, but don't go easy on him," he said to Pygmaleon. Then to Cutter he shouted, "you can have the first move!"

Cutter bit his lip. "Start with bulk up!" Bulk up was a move Cutter hadn't seen in action yet, and he was interested in watching it happen. He had read up on it the night before. Pokemon using bulk up released a rush of adrenaline, normally confined to release by fear in the wild, by riling themselves up. This involved jumping around and hitting the ground and screaming, much like Patriot was doing. It looked insane, but this released adrenaline allowed for the pokemon to both take more hits and hit harder at the same time. It didn't work so well for special attacks. Bulk up only affected the muscles of the pokemon using it, not the mind or overall body, and the pokemon did not literally "bulk up." It was kind of a misleading name for a move.

" _HEAHEAHEAHEA,"_ Patriot screeched as he jumped up and down, beating the ground with his fists and tail.

"Focus Rage!" called out Cutter's father. Pygmaleon closed his eyes and became completely still, concentrating all of his available focus and willpower into this battle. Focus rage was a combination of focus energy and rage. Focus energy allowed for Pygmaleon's attacks to occasionally hit harder than normal, and it worked for special attacks as well, unlike bulk up. Overall, it wasn't as reliable as a move like bulk up, but using focus energy once could be more effective than using bulk up once, if you got lucky or knew how to use it. A pokemon skilled enough could utilize focus energy in such a way that every attack would be able to hit harder than normal. Cutter didn't know for sure, but he figured Pygmaleon had once been skilled enough to do that. Maybe not anymore, as Pygmaleon hadn't had a real battle in quite a while. Cutter was counting on Pygmaleon and his father's rustiness in battle to help him out, at least a little. Rage was generally used by pokemon with short tempers. It utilized their ever-present anger, and so each time the pokemon was hit with an attack, the anger released a special kind of adrenaline that increased their strength during the battle. Cutter was beginning to realize that a lot of moves utilized adrenaline.

"Go in with iron head!" Cutter called.

"Thunder punch!" The two fighting pokemon ran towards each other, Patriot's head and hard hat glowing silver, Pygmaleon's gloved fist crackling with electricity.

"Get out of there!" Cutter screamed. Metal conducted electricity, and an electric type blow to Patriot's metal coated head could only end badly. Patriot disregarded his trainer's plea until the last possible second when he jumped over Pygmaleon, completely dodging the thunder punch.

Patriot twisted around in midair and slammed his soccer ball into the back of Pygmaleon's head. Pygmaleon stumbled and Patriot capitalized, landing a brick break to the back of Pygmaleon's head.

 _HEAHEAHEA_

Patriot ran on all fours to retrieve his soccer ball as Pygmaleon pushed himself up, a new fire burning in his eyes. Primeape were known for their horrible tempers. If an inexperienced trainer stumbled across one in the wild and made it mad, which almost anything could anger them, the trainer would probably not survive. He had heard stories of young trainers found dead in the woods, presumably from the wrath of an angry Primeape. Primeape were strong and volatile pokemon. Cutter had never been on the opposite end of Pygmaleon's anger and he didn't like it.

"Mach punch!"

Pygmaleon disappeared into a blur, launching himself across the field towards Patriot. Patriot reacted quickly, rolling his soccer ball towards the incoming Pygmaleon. The Primeape was unable to slow his run and tripped over the soccer ball, giving Patriot a chance to hit Pygmaleon with another brick break before retreating once again.

 _AHAHAH_

Cutter couldn't help but smile. Patriot was doing excellently. He needed to finish the battle quickly, before the Focus Rage got to be too much for Patriot to handle.

"Earthquake!"

 _PRIIIIIIIII_

Pygmaleon slammed his gloved fist into the ground, and the super powerful ground type move began to shake the earth. Both Cutter and his father stumbled, there was no psychic barrier here to protect the trainers from the effects of their pokemon's attacks. Cutter was lucky that Pygmaleon was a fighting type, not a ground type, or else the earthquake would be far more powerful.

Patriot stumbled as well and dropped his soccer ball. He clambered over the shifting earth, struggling to get it back, but even this weaker earthquake made it difficult for him to move without suffering too much damage. Pygmaleon knew exactly what he was doing. The soccer ball had caused far too many problems for him already, and he needed to get rid of it.

"Patriot, hold on!"

Patriot grunted and gripped the earth with both his hands and his hand-like feet, holding on until the earthquake died down.

"Pygmaleon, mach punch!"

"Protect!"

Pygmaleon disappeared in a blur, and a large blue bubble appeared around Patriot. Pygmaleon struck the protect but bounced off, the protect holding strong. Pygmaleon was shaking his fist in pain angrily. It appeared that the blow to the impenetrable protect had injured the Primeape's wrist.

Patriot stumbled out of the protect panting. Even though he had taken no damage in the battle yet, protect was a move that took a lot of energy, and living in the city for so long, Patriot probably hadn't used protect in quite some time.

Cutter looked up and his father was smiling, despite seemingly being on the losing end of the battle.

"What's so funny?"

"This is the end of the battle, Cutter. You've done well, but this is the end."

Cutter grit his teeth. His father wouldn't make empty threats like that. If he thought it was the end of the battle, he must have something planned. Cutter couldn't let him capitalize on whatever those plans might be. Cutter saw Patriot's soccer ball off to the left, quite some ways away. He knew that Patriot was very dependent upon that ball in battle. They had to get it back.

"U-Turn, but don't come back to me! Go to the ball!" U-Turn was a move that allowed a pokemon to legally switch out of battle, much like baton pass or volt switch. But u-turn did not have to take the pokemon back to the pokeball. It could take the pokemon nearly anywhere on the field, so long as the pokemon using u-turn could maintain it long enough to get where it wanted to go.

Patriot bounded forward, a light green shimmer cloaking him. He leapt forward and struck Pygmaleon in the face, causing him to fall back. The moment Patriot struck Pygmaleon, the light green shimmer enveloped him completely and he threw himself towards the ball in a burst of bright green light.

"Pygmaleon, get in close! Use thrash!"

Primeape sprinted towards Patriot with a speed that Cutter would not have thought possible of the Primeape. When he was within ten feet of Patriot, who had just landed and grabbed his soccer ball, he leapt forward. Patriot waited until the last second to slam the ball into Pygmaleon's face, but it did nothing but anger the Primeape. With the rage having been built even further, Pygmaleon began hitting at Patriot with every body part he had, legs, arms, even head.

"Patriot, low sweep!"

 _HEAHEAHEA_

Patriot swept one of his long legs out, tripping up Pygmaleon. He capitalized on the fall by landing a flurry of brick breaks to Pygmaleon's face. Cutter smiled. Even though Patriot was tired, he could still do this.

Pygmaleon's gloved fists shot up and caught both of Patriot's arms, stopping the barrage of brick breaks.

"Slam him!"

 _PRIIIIIII_

Pygmaleon launched himself up and spun in midair, throwing Patriot into the ground. Pygmaleon fell onto Patriot with a fist cloaked in a purple energy, finalizing the battle.

Patriot disappeared in a flash of red light and Cutter mumbled some encouraging words to his pokemon before placing the pokeball back on his belt. Pygmaleon stumbled back to his trainer, obviously proud of himself despite the damage he had taken.

xx

Cutter and his parents were sitting at a café in downtown Saffron after dropping Patriot and Pygmaleon off at the Pokemon Center. They had just received their food and Cutter was waiting as patiently as possible for his parents to tell him the big news.

"So…?" Cutter began, tired of waiting

"Don't you want to eat first?" his father asked, smiling. He was just antagonizing his son and he loved it.

"No!" Cutter said, not helping but to laugh.

"Well," Mrs. Robinson began, "your father and I are moving. To Hoenn."

A silence hung in the air as Cutter tried to process what had just been said.

"To Mossdeep, specifically," his father added.

"Oh," Cutter said, pushing his fries around with his fork. "I see."

"Don't be upset, dear. This is a big change for us. Your father got a job there as head guard for the Space Center. It pays much better than his current job and it would allow for us to live in the same city."

There was more silence before Cutter continued. "No, yeah. That's great," he said, breaking into a smile. He really did mean it, too.

"Really?" his parents asked in unison, the surprise on their faces evident.

"Yeah! I've done some research into Hoenn and there are some super cool pokemon there. Plus a promotion? That's awesome dad!"

"That's the spirit, bud," Cutter's dad ruffled his hair.

"When? Is the move happening, I mean?"

"Not for another three months. But we would like for you to come with us when we first move in. We figured it would be more than halfway through your gym trek, and it would be an opportunity for us to be together for the last time for a while. Plus, you could see some of those awesome pokemon!"

"Of course! I mean, it would all depend upon what's happening, but yeah! Count me in!" Cutter could barely contain his excitement. Even though his parents would be far away, the fact that they were in Hoenn, home of some of the most extraordinary beaches and coolest pokemon, would make it worth it. Tropius, Flygon, Salamence, Gardevoir. He counted them off in his head and he couldn't help but smile wider.

xx

The rest of the day was a fun and productive one. Patriot did seem a little upset about his loss, but a few Nanab berries from the Center's buffet cheered him right up. Cutter put several Nanab berries in the bag with the Chople and Babiri berries to save for Patriot for later.

Cutter and his father went out and trained together on one of the Center's battle plots while his mother watched. In the beginning, Pygmaleon helped Silver perfect thrash, and after only forty-five minutes, Silver had the move down perfectly. It seemed that having a good teacher really made things easier.

The rest of the pokemon his father had brought with him had friendly spars with his own pokemon. His father's Primeape and Patriot sparred together after Pygmaleon finished helping Silver. This time much more lightly than their previous bout. Pygmaleon was old and had won so he didn't carry a grudge, and Patriot was much more interested in having fun than being angry.

Rillo battled against his father's Heliolisk, Zeus, who was attempting to teach Rillo iron tail, and based on the silver sheen of Rillo's tail, it was working. Cutter was grateful for that. She needed an attack other than tackle that wasn't electricity based.

Gora, his father's starter Ledian, was flying around, dodging every rock throw and sand ball that Silver threw at him. Sand Ball was a technique they had recently begun working on. It was basically just a small, highly compact and pressurized sandstorm that could be thrown as an attack, instead of a move that effected the entire field.

Bellow was wrestling against his father's Typhlosion, Vulcan, hoping to work on Bellow's strength and stamina. Her speed didn't matter if her attacks didn't hurt the opponent.

Nostradamus was working with the other two of his father's pokemon, Ubi the Espeon and Talon the Staraptor. They were launching attacks at Nos constantly, forcing him to increase not only his physical reaction time, but his mental reaction time as well. From one angle, he would have to dodge an air slash, and from another angle he would be stopping a shadow ball with confusion. The air slashes were weak so even if they hit, they didn't hurt, and Nos's partial normal typing nullified the shadow balls.

Cutter smiled and visited with his parents while his pokemon trained, having more fun with it than they usually did. They all enjoyed the stronger pokemon taking time to mentor them, and the older, more experienced pokemon enjoyed the attention from the younger ones.

xx

Cutter said goodbye to his parents later that night and went back up to his room where Regina was already asleep. They had agreed to leave the next morning so they could get in a full two days of training before the bug-catching contest. He released his pokemon quietly and crawled into bed. By the time training was over, Silver had mastered thrash, which was perfect timing. He had learned it shortly before he was supposed to evolve. That way he could improve it even more upon evolution. The rest of his pokemon had improved their speed, strength, and reaction time as well, but by far Silver had shown the most improvement.

He hadn't mentioned Regina to his parents, and he had stayed away from the topic of Wylie giving him the mentorship later on. He had never spoken about his sexuality with his parents, but he avoided it nonetheless. He didn't think they would be suspicious about the mentorship, and really, there was nothing to hide. He and Wylie were just friends, and that's all that they would be. He was trying to become the best trainer he could be and he wasn't looking for any romantic partners. The same went for Regina, but he would have a harder time explaining that to them. His mom would make a big deal about it and his father would feel obligated to side with her. It was a mess that Cutter didn't feel like dealing with until it was absolutely necessary. But it didn't seem like it would be. His parents were moving to Hoenn, so they would never have to know.

xx

Cutter and Regina sat down on the train, ready for the fourteen-hour ride back. It was early in the morning and they had begrudgingly gotten up to make it to the station on time. The ride would last late into the night. For a while they entertained themselves by planning out where they would go after the Bug Catching Contest. For some reason, Cutter still didn't tell her that he would have to stick around Goldenrod a while longer to meet the two week hold Wylie had set on their battle.

xx

It was nearing midnight and both Cutter and Regina were getting annoyed that they were still on the train. They were supposed to have been back in Goldenrod a few hours before, but for some reason the train was moving more slowly than usual. An attendant came around, and he informed them that it would still be several more hours before they reached Goldenrod.

"Well, I want to stretch out. There's enough room underneath these seats for me to lay all the way out. And that way you can stretch out over both of our benches," Cutter told her, standing. She gave him a strange look as if saying "you're an idiot, but okay."

He climbed under the bench seat and lied on the floor, resting his head on his arms. From where he was laying he could see Regina's shoes and ankles, but the seat above him stopped him from seeing the rest of her.

The way the seats were made, there were three seats on each side of the compartment, each having an immovable armrest. That meant the only way to sleep on them was sitting up, and if there was one thing Cutter could not do, it was sleep sitting up. So, he figured that he could stretch out and lay down under the bench and actually get a little rest.

 _This is surprisingly comfortable_ , was the last thought that entered his mind before he fell asleep.

xx

The train lurched to a halt and Cutter opened his eyes groggily and pushed himself up. "Shit," he muttered, banging his head on the bench above him. The lights had gone out and the only source of illumination in the room were the dim emergency lights coming from the roof. He was about to push himself out from underneath the seat when he heard the compartment door open and two men's voices accompanied by the glare of a flashlight.

"Get up." The voice was deep and commanding. Cutter scooted back against the wall as much as he could, hoping whoever was at the door hadn't seen him.

"Wha," Regina muttered groggily, opening her eyes.

"Get. Up. We aren't playing around." The second voice wasn't as deep as the first man's, but it was even more forceful than the other. A set of black boots appeared in Cutter's sightline. He gulped and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"Is there anyone else here with you?" It was the first man again.

There was silence and then he heard Regina say, "my boyfriend. He went down to try and find out what was going on, but that was over an hour ago. He hasn't been back since." Cutter smiled. _Nice thinking on the spot!_ And then _Boyfriend?_ He blushed before pushing the silly thought from his mind. Now wasn't the time.

"Hm. Alright. Come on." He saw Regina's feet appear as well in the dim lighting before disappearing through the door, followed by the boots. He sat there in the darkness for a few minutes, making sure the men had gone.

Once he was sure they weren't coming back he climbed slowly out from underneath the bench, gingerly getting to his feet. He stuck his ear to the door and once he was sure there were no footsteps or voices approaching, he released Patriot.

"Patriot, you have to be silent. I don't know what's going on, but some bad men just took Regina," he explained to the Passimian in the simplest way possible. He knew that Patriot understood human speech better than any of his other pokemon, Nostradamus excluded, but still Cutter wanted to keep things simple in the moment.

Patriot nodded in understanding and followed Cutter into the hall, treading silently on all fours, his soccer ball wrapped up in his tail. They walked in silence and didn't hear anyone for several minutes. After what seemed like forever, they reached the end of their train car. Cutter bit his lip, struggling to figure out what to do.

Someone had obviously taken over the train. They had also probably subdued everyone, if them taking Regina was anything to go by. That meant that there were probably a lot of them, whoever _them_ was.

Cutter pulled open the door separating two of the train cars and stepped through, pulling it closed behind Patriot. This car was the one that had been annoyingly loud earlier, but now it was dead silent, and it wasn't for lack of people, either.

As Cutter looked around, he saw that not only was every seat full of people, but the floors and aisles too, and none of them were moving. For a moment Cutter was afraid they were all dead, but he saw the rise and fall of their chests with every breath they took.

 _What the hell._

He looked at Patriot who seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, because he was completely still. Cutter and Patriot made their way through the aisles, carefully stepping in the tiny spaces between bodies. Cutter and Regina's car had been the caboose, so there was nowhere to go but forward.

The next car was also completely full of sleeping bodies. And the next. And the next. As they walked, Cutter kept an eye out for Regina, but he didn't see her. And they didn't see anyone awake, either.

 _How did they get so many people knocked out at once?_

But as hard as Cutter thought about it, he couldn't seem to come up with any kind of answer. So he just kept making his way to the front of the train.

At one point, he tried to wake up a man that was passed out, but the most the man did was grunt. He didn't stir any more than that.

Cutter also noticed that none of the people had any pokeballs. It seemed that the train hijackers had taken them. Cutter debated sending out another pokemon to better protect him, but none of his other pokemon would be as effective as Patriot. And if these people were as strong as Cutter feared, Patriot was the only one that would be able to stand up to them.

Cutter stepped through yet another doorway and noted a sign that stated that he was now in the fifth car. _Only five more cars until I reach the front._ He noticed that below the Fifth Car sign there was a map of the train. The fifth car was a passenger car as well, but the fourth car was a bar, the third a conference room, the second the engine room, and the first the Motor Unit. Somewhere in one of those four cars, Cutter would find what he was looking for, even if he didn't really know what it was himself.

In the fifth car, which was an individual compartment car much like Cutter's and Regina, he saw no sleeping bodies for the first time. It was almost scarier than when there had been bodies. Instead of the sounds of hundreds of sleeping people breathing, it was just the sound of his and Patriot's breath and footsteps, along with the faint hum of the backup generator that powered the emergency lights.

They reached the end of that car without incident as well, but they paused before opening the next door. There were voices, and lots of them, coming from the next car. Cutter had no idea what to do. On one hand, he could barge in and demand what was happening, but based on what he had seen, that seemed like a near suicide mission. He contemplated releasing more pokemon again, but didn't think any of them could stand up to a truly powerful opponent. Then again, there was safety in numbers.

He looked to Patriot who was looking expectantly at his trainer, waiting for instructions. They didn't have to wait long because the door in between Cutter and the bar room opened, and a short, drunk woman stumbled into Cutter.

It took her a moment to realize what was happening, and her reaction was even further delayed by her drunken stupor. It seemed that she hadn't been expecting anyone to be there and awake.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before she pushed herself off of Cutter and drew a pokeball. But before she could release whatever pokemon was inside, Patriot dropped his soccer ball and wrapped his tail around her neck and snatched the pokeball from her hand. In a matter of seconds, she was knocked out cold and Patriot lowered her to the floor.

Cutter just stared at Patriot, amazed. "What was that?" Patriot handed the pokeball to Cutter and picked back up his soccer ball that he had dropped. Cutter continued staring before snapping out of it and bending down to take the rest of the pokeballs from the woman's belt. He didn't know how long she would be out for, but he didn't want her to have any pokemon when she awoke.

As he grabbed the last pokeball, he noticed something he hadn't seen before. A gun. Guns were illegal in both Kanto and Johto, and unless you were with the police or the League, citizens did not have access to them. Even then, they were rare. Only the highest ranking among them had them.

His face whitened and he was scared to even touch it. He had been warned of the dangers of guns. Whereas pokemon could stand up to attacks from other pokemon with only damage, even if it was sometimes serious, guns had the ability to kill instantly. Few moves could do that. Suddenly, Cutter was a lot more afraid than he had been. But he knew he had to get the gun so he sucked it up and gingerly took the gun from the woman's waist. He had never touched one before and it was cold and foreign in his hand. He debated keeping it, but he had no idea how to use it, and he didn't want to risk accidentally shooting himself, or worse, one of his pokemon with it.

He turned and saw that the compartment next to him was open. He put the pokeballs and gun under the seat so they weren't visible and closed the door. He leaned back against it and took several deep breaths. He hadn't even realized that he was hyperventilating until that moment.

Releasing any more pokemon was completely out of the question at that point. He wouldn't risk any of their lives. In fact, he wouldn't risk Patriot's life either. It was time to return him.

He lifted Patriot's pokeball with shaky hands from his belt, but Patriot grabbed it from him and threw it, the sound of the pokeball hitting the plastic tile echoed loudly in the otherwise silent hall.

"What the hell?" Cutter whispered, angry with the Teamwork pokemon.

Patriot bared his teeth at his trainer, and the message was obvious. Patriot understood the danger they were in and refused to let his trainer and friend go at it alone. Cutter nodded and put his hand on Patriot's shoulder. _Thank you,_ Cutter mouthed. Patriot gestured at the pure white pokeball and Cutter understood. Nostradamus could listen to the thoughts in the other room and communicate with them. And if not, at the very least Nostradamus could momentarily stop their opponents with a confusion. _No. Not opponents. They're our enemies. I don't know who they are, but they put everyone on this train to sleep and they've got guns._

Cutter released Nos after another moment of deliberation. If the people in the next car saw Nos with his pure white coat, they would immediately want him, Cutter knew. But if the people in the next car apprehended him, they would take his pokeballs and get Nostradamus that way. Either way, Nostradamus had a chance to be taken. He might as well help them out.

Nostradamus appeared in a flash of light, his pure white coat glowing softly in the dim light. He was silent and after a second, nodded. _I understand. I cannot hear what is being said. Some sort of dark type energy is present in the room. I don't know how to get through it._

 _That's alright._ Cutter frowned. A dark type would easily take down Nostradamus. _Is there anything you can tell us from her?_ A pokeball, Patriot's, floated into Cutter's hand. He put it back on his belt and nodded in thanks to Nostradamus.

Nos looked down at the woman lying there and back up at Patriot. _The Playful One did this?_ Cutter nodded solemnly. _It seems his history is more colorful than we thought. I will look into that. I try not to pry into the other's memories, but I may have to make an exception with this one._

 _Nos. Focus._

 _Yes, Father. I apologize._ There was silence as Nos focused on the woman lying there. _Tycoon. That word keeps popping up. But I am not yet advanced enough to truly delve into people's dreams. Perhaps if I learned the dream eating technique I might be able to, but as for now, all I can gather is the word Tycoon._

 _Tycoon. I don't know._ Cutter bit his lip. This woman still hadn't returned to the bar car and Cutter feared that the people in the bar car would become suspicious and send someone to investigate.

 _Father, what shall we do?_

Cutter was silent. _I don't know. I think I'm going to return you. There's a dark type in there and I don't want you to be hurt by it._

 _No._ Cutter had never felt such force from Nostradamus before, but there was no mistaking the assurance that flooded through his body. He would not be returning Nos. Not yet anyways.

 _Okay. Okay._ His thoughts were cut short by two men coming through the door, neither of these drunk, unfortunately. His pokemon turned towards the door, Patriot baring his teeth, this time in rage and not laughter, and Nostradamus whinnying and pawing at the floor.

"What the hell?" the shorter one asked, seemingly unsurprised. Cutter recognized him to be the deeper voiced man that had taken Regina. He looked down and saw the woman lying there and realized what was happening. But instead of being shocked, like Cutter expected to happen, he smiled. "Hey, Titus, this kid knocked out Sam."

"What's going on?" Cutter choked out, barely hiding the fear in his voice.

"Shut up, kid. You're going to return your pokemon," he said, his eyes resting on Nostradamus, "and you're going to give us their pokeballs. Then you're going to come with us. We won't knock you out like the rest of them, so consider yourself lucky." He gestured to an area behind Cutter, apparently meaning all of the sleeping people in the cars behind them.

"No."

"No? No. Huh. Did you hear that, Titus? The kid said no." The taller of the men, Titus, chuckled.

"No. I'm not going to give you my pokemon," Cutter said, his bravery returning. He cared for his pokemon more than anything and he wouldn't just give them up to these jerks that decided to take over the train.

"Well, I guess we'll take them then, won't we Harry?" Titus raised a pokeball, but before he could release it, he was knocked out cold by a hypnosis from Nostradamus. But before Nostradamus could turn his attention to Harry, a mean looking Weavile materialized.

"Slash them," he smiled a sinister smile and for the first-time Cutter was genuinely scared.

Chaos ensued as the Weavile disappeared and Patriot screamed and fell to the ground, clutching the back of his knee, the white of his leg stained red with blood. This was no ordinary battle. This Weavile was playing with the intent to maim or, Cutter feared, kill. Patriot spun around as best as he could and shot out a fist, attempting to hit the fast dark type with a mega punch, but Weavile was too quick.

Cutter returned Nostradamus before he could get hit by the powerful dark type. This was not a fight for him. He panicked and didn't know what to do. He tried to return his hurt Passimian, but he instead released Bellow and immediately she picked up on the situation. She roared and the Weavile, apparently startled, slowed down just enough for Patriot to use a low sweep with his uninjured leg and knock it down. He was on it in a second, punching and kicking. The Weavile disappeared in a flash of red light and the man turned and ran through the door, still laughing.

Cutter and his pokemon followed through, Patriot limping along but still refusing to be returned, try as Cutter might.

In the bar car were at least fifty more men and women, all wearing the same black uniform. Various powerful pokemon were out and Cutter's eyes zeroed in on a large purple and black one. He didn't recognize it, but its pink beak and luminescent purple body caused Cutter to freeze in place. Another roar from Bellow brought him back to his senses.

"Well, hello." A tall, gray haired man stepped forward. "I didn't expect anyone to still be awake, let alone some kid. How did you wake up?" Cutter remained silent. "Not talking, are we? That's fine. We'll take your pokemon and knock you out regardless," he said, turning. "Take care of him." He continued walking and a large, angry looking man with a menacing smile took his place. He had a pokeball in one hand and a gun in the other.

"You got it boss," the angry man said before turning to Cutter. "Time's up, kid," he laughed, this laugh even scarier than Harry's. Harry at least seemed sane. Even from where Cutter was standing, he could see the crazy in this guy's eyes.

There was a loud pop that came from what Cutter figured to be the gun, a mean looking Dusknoir appeared, and Cutter heard Patriot scream and Bellow roar. They rushed forward, adrenaline pushing Patriot through the pain and Cutter looked around, scared one of them had been shot. Pokemon were appearing all around the room. There was a Feraligatr. A Furrett. An Octillery. A Vaporeon. A single Ursaring and an injured Passimian to battle all of these pokemon.

Cutter reached down to grab their pokeballs and return them, but instead he noticed that there was a warm tightness on his thigh that he hadn't realized was there before and a warmth that made its way down his leg. There was a hole on the side of his khaki shorts that was stained with some red. He touched it, the roar of the battle around him fading away. The last thing he remembered before he passed out were two white and red pokemon bursting into the room through the windows of the train car and a soft lullaby being sung. And then he was out cold.

xx

 **Hey guys! As usual, thanks for reading! This was a super important chapter. Part two will be coming soon! I feel like this one had a lot of character development for both Cutter and Patriot, so I'm super happy with it! As always, please leave a like, review, or PM me! Thanks!**


	11. The Champion

Cutter opened his eyes and looked around as best he could, the world shaky and blurred. He blinked several times to get the sleep out of his eyes and struggled to sit up, but a sharp pain in his leg caused him to cry out.

"Take it easy," a voice said. It sounded a lot like a certain gym leader that he knew, but he was in too much pain to really care. He grit his teeth and tried to push himself up. He felt a set of strong hands on his back help pull himself up and resituate his leg.

After a few deep breaths, he opened his eyes and looked around. Wylie was there, like he suspected, right next to the bed. His parents were standing in the corner of the tiny white room. Finally, his eyes landed on a man standing in the opposite corner of the room. A man he had only ever seen in pictures or on TV. Lionel Reed, the current Champion of the Johto and Kanto regions.

Cutter closed his eyes tight before reopening to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he opened them, Lionel was still standing there, his mouth set in a firm line and his face displaying no emotion. His parents and Wylie, however, had plenty of emotion on their faces. His mother had obviously been crying and his father looked worried, whereas Wylie was grinning with relief.

"What's going on?" Cutter asked, his voice scratchy and catching in his throat slightly. "What happened?" Cutter tried to think of what had happened. The last thing he remembered was the bursting of the windows in the train.

"You're okay, Cutter," Wylie said, his voice quivering, giving away the emotion that his face had been hiding so well. "You're in the best hospital in Johto, right here in Goldenrod."

"As for what happened on that train, we're going to need an official statement from you before we can tell you anything," Lionel said, stepping forward. He may have been a short man, but his voice was deep and commanding.

"Hold on, Lionel. Let him get his bearings. He's been out for twelve hours. He needs to wake up," Wylie shot back, defending him. "You were shot. That's why you're here in the hospital. It just grazed your left leg. No permanent damage was done; it's just going to hurt like hell for a couple days. You should be healed up and ready to be back out there in a day or two.

"Well, we can't tell him anything else that happened until we get his statement," Lionel said, cutting Wylie off. "We don't want that interfering with his story."

"Fine," Wylie resigned, stepping back.

"I'm going to need the room alone with Mr. Robinson," Lionel turned to Wylie and Cutter's parents. They all nodded, his parents seemed hesitant, but it was the Champion, after all, so they resigned and left.

Lionel shut the door and locked it before releasing a large pink and purple pokemon that floated in the air. "This is Moo, my Musharna. Musharna is a pokemon that specializes in dreams and memories, but it does this via sleep. So, if it's alright with you, just to get the most accurate story possible, I'm going to have Moo put you to sleep and then look into your mind." He must have sensed the unease that Cutter was feeling because he followed up with, "But don't worry. We know the time that the train left and the time that you were knocked out, so Moo will not look into memories outside of that time frame."

Cutter relaxed before nodding, "okay."

"This will only take a few minutes." But Cutter was asleep before the end of the Champion's sentence.

xx

Cutter opened his eyes, groggy once again for the second time that day. Lionel was still standing there, Moo floating next to him. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Robinson. I'll go get your parents and Wylie." He walked out of the room, leaving Cutter alone for the first time since being awake. But it didn't last long. Less than thirty seconds later, all four of them were back.

"So what happened?" Cutter demanded, tired of waiting.

"Alright, alright Mr. Impatient," Wylie smiled. "Where should I begin?"

"The beginning?" Cutter snapped back, fed up with waiting. He felt like a lab Raticate and he didn't appreciate it.

Wylie rocked back and forth on his heels as Lionel spoke. "The train was hijacked by an underground criminal organization known only as Tycoon." _So that was what Nostradamus meant when he said all that he could make out was the word Tycoon._ "Is something wrong, Cutter?"

"Oh. No. The only word that my Girafarig could make out when trying to listen in the room where I passed out was Tycoon."

Lionel just nodded and Wylie began talking. "An attendant at the Goldenrod end of the train station called and informed me that the train had failed to reach Goldenrod by its estimated arrival time. I told her to call again if the train still hadn't reached the station after another hour. AN extra hour is how long we give trains before sending someone out to check on it. Sometimes the conductor will stop the train for emergency purposes or to check and make sure everything on the train is okay, if they feel something might be off. Well, when she called again I knew something had to be up. The train rarely comes in more than fifteen minutes late. So, I called Falkner and asked him to fly out over the tracks for me. His birds are far faster than mine are and would be able to get there far quicker than I would. I told him I would meet him. He called back as I was getting pretty close and informed me that he had found the train, but the power was completely shut off from it. His Xatu had informed him that he wasn't able to sense anything going on in the front end of the train, but that in the back end, there were a lot of sleeping humans in one car. Falkner told me that he had already called Lionel and my mother, and that they would meet us there. I called Sabrina as well. The five of us rendezvoused about five miles from the train so that we could work something out." He paused and Lionel took over.

"The five of us decided that we needed to enter the train. People could be in danger and we had wasted enough time already. Falkner went back and scouted the area again. Whitney and I came from the front, and Sabrina and Wylie came from the side. When we gave the signal, Whitney's Wigglytuff and Blissey and my Lapras began using sing to put everyone inside to sleep." Lionel noticed Cutter's widened eyes and chuckled. "Trust me, three pokemon using sing isn't overkill, if that's what you were thinking." Cutter smirked. That was exactly what he had been thinking. "Remember, we had no idea what was inside those train cars. We needed to make sure that every last thing in there was asleep. While our pokemon were using sing, Whitney's and Wylie's Vigoroths burst through the windows of the front of the train while Sabrina's psychic pokemon hung back and made a psychic force field, making sure none of the people in the cars could teleport away." Lionel grimaced. "Although a few got away anyways. The car we broke into initially had most of their lower downs. By the time we made it to the main car, where we're assuming all the higher ups were, there was no one but a girl."

"Regina?" Cutter blurt out, heart racing.

"Yes," Lionel admitted, a little surprised by Cutter's outburst.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Cutter was smiling now, his heart in his throat. His friend was safe. His happiness was short lived and his heart began to sink when he made eye contact with Wylie, who quickly averted his eyes. "What?" No one answered. "What is it?" He choked on the words, barely getting them out.

"She's in a coma," Lionel said after what felt like far too long of a pause.

Cutter collapsed back against the pillow, ignoring the pain in his leg. "All of her pokemon were still with her, which is more than we can say for most of the people on the train. And the doctors here are working full time to figure out what's wrong." Wylie sat down on the bed and grabbed Cutter's hand in his own, squeezing it reassuringly.

Cutter looked up at Wylie, too distraught about Regina to even register the fact that Wylie was holding his hand. "Cutter, she's going to be okay. She really is."

"How do you know that?" Cutter muttered, his voice barely audible.

"What?"

"How do you know that?" Cutter was shouting then. "HOW DO YOU KNOW SHE'S GOING TO BE OKAY? HOW DO YOU KNOW? HOW DO YOU-."

"Mr. Robinson, that's enough." Cutter's words caught in his throat, his tirade brought to an end by the forceful but kind words from the current champion.

His face grew red and he cursed himself. _I just lost my shit in front of the Champion. I look like a damn child._ Cutter squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." And tears were streaming down his face.

"We're doing everything we can, Mr. Robinson. I promise you, we are going to help your friend and catch the people who did this." Cutter made eye contact with the Champion and he knew that the Champion was telling the truth. He nodded, closing his eyes and forcing the tears away. _Why am I reacting this way? I barely know her._

"Would you like me to continue the story? Or would you like a moment to collect yourself?"

"I'm fine," Cutter mumbled, wiping tears away, accepting a tissue from Wylie. "I'm sorry."

"After Wigglytuff, Clefable, and Lapras put everyone on the train to sleep, we all boarded, with Falkner keeping watch from above still. No one from the main train car managed to escape, but imagine our surprise when we saw you, lying there asleep. You were bleeding pretty heavily from the bullet wound to your leg, but you were alive. You looked so peaceful in between your Ursaring and Passimian." Wylie smiled.

"How is Patriot?" Cutter blurt out, interrupting the story yet again. But he didn't care. He cared more about his Passimian being okay than anything else.

"He's fine. He's being treated now. Nothing serious. You've got yourself a strong pokemon in that Passimian. He was barely asleep when we got in there. He fought those sings with everything he had." Cutter smiled. That was the Patriot he knew and loved.

"I can't wait to battle it, Cutter. It might make our next battle a little more difficult," Wylie teased. "Anyways, I figured what happened. That you somehow evaded capture when they went through and took everyone, but you just had to be a hero, didn't you?" Wylie grinned and ruffled his hair, to which Cutter retreated, blushing. "Anyways, Sabrina held everyone in there with her psychic pokemon and mom and I went around and returned all the pokemon, which took a while. There were over sixty of their pokemon out. You're lucky." His tone had turned serious. "You would have been seriously hurt if we hadn't gotten there. I know you think you're strong, and for the number of badges you have, you are, but these people are serious, Cutter. This isn't a video game where the bad guys are your skill level and get stronger each new time you meet them. This is real life, and they're strong no matter how weak you are. If we wouldn't have gotten there when we did, you would have been in serious trouble."

Cutter bowed his head and nodded, ashamed. He knew he shouldn't have challenged them. But he also knew he had to. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he wouldn't have done anything.

"But you're okay. So, don't beat yourself up. You did what you thought was right. And you followed your heart. I would have done the same thing at your age, kid." Wylie winked and Cutter smiled.

Lionel began speaking again, although much more hesitantly this time. "I had heard rumors of Tycoon, but they were just that. Rumors. But when we began questioning people at the Indigo Plateau's holding facility, I knew that it was no longer just a rumor. We have not had a serious attack on the Johto region since Team Rocket over twenty-five years ago. I informed the public yesterday. They're taking it fairly well, all things considered. Few of the active training population, outside of the League, have experienced something like this. We're taking all possible precautions."

"Do I have to stop travelling?" Cutter asked, suddenly worried.

"No, no not at all. Quite the opposite, actually. We need new trainers to get stronger. As much as I hate it, the safety of the roads and routes ultimately depends on the training population. The League cannot be everywhere at once, so the League actually depends on the trainers. These sorts of groups often take over mountains and caves and such, so we need the trainers out and about to report these things. It is advised, however, for new trainers to travel in pairs and to be extra careful on the road. If you do see anything suspicious, you are to report it _immediately_ and get away from there."

Cutter nodded, relieved that he would still be able to travel. But there was still that little seed of worry in his stomach at travelling alone.

"Could I speak with Mr. Robinson alone?" Lionel asked, turning to Cutter's parents and Wylie. They all nodded, his mother more hesitantly, but still they agreed, and soon Cutter was alone with the Champion. He was a short man, probably Cutter's height, but he exuded confidence and power. He had come from a rough background and had taken the Championship from the previous Champion, Lance, in only his eighth year of training, which was almost unheard of. Lance himself had been training for close to twelve before he won the Championship, and before Lionel Reed, he had been considered as the strongest champion the United League of Johto and Kanto had ever seen.

"I know that this is a rare situation, Mr. Robinson, but I have talked with various other gym leaders that you have already challenged and I also watched your Goldenrod Tournament battles. I know that you are an especially accomplished trainer for your age, and I admire your bravery exhibited on the train. I would like to offer you an apprenticeship from the League."

Cutter's breath caught in his throat. Surely he hadn't heard that correctly.

"I know this might seem crazy, and you don't have to accept, but I think you should. This is an excellent opportunity. You would be getting a small monthly allowance of sorts, and once you collect all eight gym badges, you would be allowed to carry more than six pokemon with you. This is a rare offer, Mr. Robinson. We do this on occasion when we see extreme potential in trainers, and we believe you have that potential."

There was silence for a moment before Cutter finally spoke. "Yes. Wow. Yes, I would be honored. I accept." He was all grins as he accepted the news.

"Well, I'll be in contact with you soon. I believe Wylie has a gift for you to help with that," Lionel smirked. "A cell phone, or something? I don't know. Don't tell him I told you. Do you have any questions before I go?"

Cutter furrowed his brow and looked up at Champion Reed. "Why this train? What was on board that they wanted so badly?"

"Not what, but who, Mr. Robinson. There was a scientist on board when the train left that wasn't on board when we arrived. His name is Gary Oak. He used to be an excellent trainer."

"Wait, like THE Gary Oak?" Cutter interrupted, eyes wide with shock.

"Yes. Samuel Oak's grandson. Anyways, he used to be very big into pokemon research, but over the last ten years he has been researching the mythical pokemon Celebi. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes. I used to live in Azalea, and Ilex Forest was said to be its home, so I've heard rumors. But aren't they just that? Rumors?" Cutter asked.

"That's what people are told, but to be honest, we don't really know. We don't know how to disprove its existence, but no one has had sight of it in over sixty years." Champion Reed paused, as if thinking what exactly to say before continuing. "Celebi can travel through time. Nit cannot manipulate time in the way the legendary pokemon Dialga can, however, but it can travel through time nonetheless. We are assuming that Tycoon is interested in Celebi, but honestly it could be any of Professor Oak's research they're after." He paused, waiting to see if Cutter would say anything. When he didn't, he finished with, "But this is highly classified information, Mr. Robinson. You can speak of this to no one."

Cutter nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Of course."

"Well, if that's it, I will be going. The League is having a ball tomorrow honoring the winner of the most recent Silver Cup Champion. Whitney is _insisting_ that I make a speech. You know how those things go." He winked at Cutter and stepped out, leaving him alone once again.

xx

His parents came back in shortly after Lionel left. His mother was teary eyed and his father looked like he had been crying as well, but Cutter wasn't about to say anything about it if he had been.

"We're going back to Cherrygrove, Cutter," his father said, voice shaking slightly. Cutter nodded and stared at the sheets of his hospital bed, fidgeting awkwardly. Nobody spoke for a moment. "We've talked extensively while you were asleep, both with each other and with Champion Reed, and we think it is best for you to continue travelling."

Cutter gulped and looked up at them, eyes wide. That wasn't what he had been expecting them to say. His parents had always been very supportive of his dreams of becoming a pokemon master, but his father had been a trainer at the peak of Team Rocket's power. If anyone knew how dangerous an underground criminal organization could be, it was him. "Thank you," Cutter choked out, his eyes tearing up again.

"Stay safe," his mom murmured, wrapping her only child up in a hug that caused Cutter's leg to scream out in pain, but he held in any sign of pain. The pain his mother was feeling had to be far worse.

After his mother finally let go, his father rested a hand on his shoulder. "Call us if you ever need anything."

"You got it dad," Cutter smiled up at his father. He squeezed his shoulder and then they were gone.

Cutter laid back against the hospital bed, breathing a sigh of relief, but not thirty seconds later and Wylie walked in.

"How are ya, kid?" Wylie laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Cutter rolled his eyes and pushed him lightly. "Shut up."

"But really, how do you feel?" Wylie's tone was far more serious than before.

"I'm fine. I'm worried about Regina, but I'm fine. My leg hurts, but it'll heal."

"Yeah. Don't worry about Regina. She'll be okay. The best doctors in Johto are here for her." Cutter smiled softly. "I got you something."

"Can I guess?" Cutter asked, his voice monotone.

"Who told you?"

"The Champion might have let it slip," Cutter laughed as Wylie set an unopened cell phone box on Cutter's hospital bed.

"I'm gonna kill him. Just cause him and mom are dating does NOT mean he gets to go around like he's my dad, embarrassing me. Damn."

Cutter's eyes widened in surprise. "Your mom is dating the _Champion_ Lionel Reed?"

"Yeah?" Wylie's tone was incredulous. "She's in the Elite Four and I'm a gym leader. I've known him since I was pretty young."

Cutter gawked inwardly. How amazing it must be to live on the inner circle of Johto's elite. He glanced at the phone and nearly passed back out. Wylie must have noticed because he chuckled. "I know it's an expensive model, but I figured you deserve it, being minorly employed by the League and all. Plus you had to miss out on the Bug Catching Contest today, which I know you were excited for."

"You knew?" Cutter blushed, choosing to ignore the fact that he had to miss the Bug Catching Contest. It was okay. He didn't really need any new pokemon anyways. He had just caught Patriot a few days ago. He needed to bond with him before he caught anymore.

"Of course I knew. I was the one that recommended you."

"What? Really? But… you beat me so badly. Why would you do that?"

"You had an off day. You're strong. You won the finals of the Goldenrod Tournament with just Nostradamus. And after we found out that you had stormed the front of the train all on your own, the League was practically forced to scoop you up. What you did was stupid, Cutter," Wylie turned serious. "Very stupid. Yes, it was brave, but it was still stupid. I can't believe you did that." Cutter opened his mouth to argue, but Wylie held up his hand, stopping him. "It's done. Just don't do anything like it again. You hear me?" Cutter bowed his head and nodded.

The two spent the next hour laughing and talking. Wylie explained the phone to him and how he could hook his Pokedex up to it, so essentially his phone was a Pokedex that could do even more in depth research. Plus, it could make calls and texts as well. Cutter was worried about the limited service available in Johto, but Wylie assured him that he wouldn't have to worry about that. This phone had especially strong range.

After a while, a doctor came in and insisted that Wylie leave. He objected, but finally gave in. With a smile and an assurance of being back the next day, Wylie left.

"You'll be free to go in two days," the doctor began, his voice boring and monotone. Cutter found himself wishing Wylie was back to entertain him. "The Ditto cells have already been applied to the injured portion of your leg. I should be fully healed by tomorrow night. We'll have to keep you overnight for one more night just to make sure everything is okay, but then you will be released."

"And my pokemon?" Cutter asked.

"They will be delivered back to you tomorrow morning. They also need to stay for one more night."

Cutter thanked the doctor and settled back onto the bed, suddenly very drowsy.

xx

Cutter awoke early the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the hospital room window. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, his gaze settling on a tray filled with four pokeballs and a premier ball on his bedside table.

"Yes!" he pumped his fist in the air and leaned over to grab them, his leg feeling only slightly sore.

He released all of his pokemon at once, who all erupted in a cacophony of sound. Cutter smiled as Rillo jumped onto the bed, rubbing her head against his chest, shocking him slightly. Patriot jumped up and down, screeching. Waves of warmth and relief washed over him from Nos. Bellow let out a small but affectionate growl and rested her paw on Cutter's head. Even Silver was smiling, just happy to know his Master was okay. Cutter laughed at the wonderful and happy group of pokemon around him. It was good to have his team back.

xx

The rest of the day passed by slowly, but Cutter enjoyed it. It had been a while since he and his team had just relaxed together, and it wasn't until bed rest was forced did Cutter realize how valuable this time was.

Rillo napped on the bed next to Cutter with the sunlight streaming in, warming her fur as Cutter stroked her absentmindedly. Silver was playing with a few pebbles in the corner and Bellow was napping in the sun, but on the ground. It had been hard to get Patriot to calm down, but Cutter knew that he was just excited to see his trainer, and Cutter was excited to see him too. Now the Teamwork Pokemon sat cross-legged on the floor, tossing his ball up and down with his tail as he groomed himself.

 _You feel responsible, Father._

Cutter bowed his head and looked over at Nostradamus.

 _It's alright, Father. It was not your fault. There is nothing more you could have done._

 _I know, Nos. I know._

 _So why are you so hard on yourself?_

Cutter paused. _I don't know. I guess I just want to be great, but I failed in keeping Regina safe._

 _Great beings fail all the time. My grandfather has passed, and he lost his life to a group of evil humans. But he was still great. We lost the battle to the blond haired one, but we will defeat him next time. What matters is that we grow. We learn. That is what truly counts._

Cutter gazed at Nostradamus and smiled. They held eye contact for a moment while love and gratitude passed between them, warming Cutter in the cold hospital room.

xx

That night Cutter was able to get up and walk around some. At first he wobbled, but he grabbed onto Patriot for support, who helped him walk. After a while, he let go of Patriot and walked on his own. He found that his leg was a little stiff, but other than that he was fine.

xx

Cutter walked away from the hospital, Patriot beside him. The doctor had told him that he was good to travel, but he shouldn't do any running or too strenuous of an activity for another couple of days, just in case.

He was anxious to get out of Goldenrod, but he had to go see Wylie first. He had texted Wylie, it had taken him all night to figure out how to use the phone, and told him he was going to stop by the gym once he was out of the hospital.

xx

Even though the gym was only a few blocks from the hospital, Cutter found that his leg was tired from the walk. Travelling was going to be difficult for a while.

He walked through the front doors, greeted by Wylie himself. "Hey there! I was just getting ready to run to the store, but since you're here we can talk first!" Wylie locked the front doors of the gym and lounged on one of the waiting room couches. Cutter sat down in a chair next to him.

"So what's up?" Wylie asked. "Ready to challenge me?"

Cutter took a deep breath and swallowed. "I've decided not to challenge you again yet." He made eye contact with Wylie, who nodded as if to say "keep going." "You told me I could come and train under you once I have six badges. So, I'm going to go West and challenge Morty, Jasmine and Chuck. That puts me at five badges. Then I'll come back and challenge you for my sixth."

Wylie bit his lip and drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch before bursting into a huge grin. "That's a great idea!"

"Really?" Cutter asked. He wasn't sure why, but he was almost positive that Wylie would object to it in some way.

"Yes! That way I'll be able to use some of my stronger pokemon against you and really give you a good fight." Wylie was grinning, obviously excited about the prospect of a more challenging battle with him.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled then," Cutter sighed, smiling as well.

xx

A few hours later and Cutter was well on his way to Ecruteak City. He had debated over which way to go, considering there were three options. He could go Northwest for a ways to the national park, then go northeast to Ecruteak. He could go northeast up to Violet City, then Northwest up to Ecruteak. Lastly, and the fastest way, was he could go straight north. It would still take him two weeks to traverse, but that was better than three, especially now that he had wasted three days in the hospital.

The first two ways had roads and wide paths that people passed through often. The last option took him through wilderness for the majority of the journey. Only the last fourth was on a road. That wasn't to say that the pure northern way wasn't travelled. It was, but the path was small and the pokemon more abundant.

He had finally decided on the pure northern route. He wanted to be in the wilderness again. He was tired of being in the city and near too many people. The absence of human life would be a welcome change in the woods between Goldenrod and Ecruteak.

The going was slow and Cutter had to stop often because of his leg growing sore easily, but it was alright. He took turns walking with each pokemon and they all enjoyed their alone time with their trainer.

They had made it several miles into the forest by the time night started to fall, which, Cutter noticed, was later than it had been. Along with the copious amounts of sweat that he was producing, it seemed that summer was in full swing.

xx

The next week and a half went by without much event. The going was slower than he would have liked thanks to his leg, but he still thought that they were making good time. He was spending a lot of time with Patriot, which was nice. He hadn't had much of a chance to truly spend any one on one time with his newest pokemon because of the train incident, but it was much appreciated now.

They would pass the ball back and forth and Patriot would leap into the trees and race along the branches. Cutter was never too worried about his Passimian. The forest was his native habitat and Patriot was strong enough to protect himself from most pokemon that dared to get close. Not that he had to worry about that, though. Patriot made enough noise to ensure that few got within attacking distance.

There was only one incident while they were travelling, and luckily it happened while his team was out. While it was scary, it also ended up being quite rewarding.

They were two weeks into their trip and they still had another week to go. Cutter was angry at himself that they were moving so slowly, and as he was getting into his sleeping bag, he was mentally cursing himself. Silver had just put out the camp fire with a sand attack, so with the exception of the light the stars and crescent moon provided, it was dark.

Cutter had just put his head down on the makeshift pillow of clothes when a series of snarls and hisses came from the edge of the campsite. He sat up suddenly, not knowing what was going on. The light from the stars and moon weren't enough to help make anything out.

Cutter flailed about for his backpack, wanting to get out his flashlight, but before he could find it, Rillo used flash. In the moment before he went blind from the sudden burst of light, he saw Patriot and Bellow wrestling with an Arbok. Even more blind than before, he continued searching for his backpack, this time wanting to find a pokeball.

In a stroke of luck, his hand landed on his backpack. "Dammit," he muttered as he fumbled with the clasps, his hands stiff with sleepiness weren't cooperating. He finally managed to get the backpack open and the first thing that he felt inside was a flashlight. He grabbed it and switched it on, instantly illuminating the backpack. His eyesight was slowly returning and he could barely make out its contents. He swung the beam around to check on the status of the battle. It appeared that the Arbok was defeated, as Nos had finally entered the fray, and was holding it up in the air with a confusion as it writhed, unable to break the super effective hold Nos had on it.

He focused the flashlight and his focus back on the backpack and grabbed a great ball from his belt. A pokeball likely wouldn't be strong enough to hold the Arbok, but he didn't think that an Ultra ball would be necessary for the weakened pokemon.

 _Drop it, Nos._

As Nostradamus dropped the Arbok and it fell through the air, a flash of white light engulfed it and it disappeared into the pokeball. It wiggled violently for what felt like ages before it stopped, and with a "ding" confirmed that the Arbok had been caught.

Cutter sighed and rubbed his eyes. He didn't particularly want a new pokemon. He had caught Patriot just the week before and was still working on getting to know him and getting him acquainted with the team. But he knew that he couldn't let the Arbok go. Arbok were very prideful pokemon, and if they would have sent it back into the forest, it might have come back with even more Arbok, and that was a problem that Cutter didn't want to have to deal with.

He supposed that he could trade it away once he got into Ecruteak, but having a poison type on the team wouldn't hurt. He currently didn't have anything that could effectively counter fairy or grass types, and poison types did just that.

Nostradamus floated him the pokeball and he put it in his backpack. He would deal with meeting it in the morning. Even though the Arbok was weakened, it wasn't seriously hurt, and in its state of suspended animation, it would be fine.

"Are all of you okay?" Cutter asked, shining his flashlight onto each pokemon, who all nodded and affirmed him. He sighed with relief. The last thing he wanted to happen was for his pokemon to get badly poisoned out in the middle of nowhere. Not all poison pokemon would badly poison, but he figured that this Arbok would have. It seemed strong, as it had put up a decent fight with Patriot and Bellow, and he doubted that it came to battle just for the sake of battling. The poison it could have put into his pokemon would have been potentially deadly.

He had antidotes and a few Pecha berries, but those were only good for staving off the poison for a while, and even then, they weren't meant for counteracting an extremely strong poison. A stronger, higher concentrated antidote provided by a Pokemon Center or specialty healer would be needed, and Cutter didn't have current access to either of those things.

"Alright, then. Now that we've had some excitement for the day, let's get to sleep," he said as he stuffed the flashlight into the backpack next to Arbok's Great ball. He sunk back down into his sleeping bag and Rillo climbed inside, nestling her wooly head into his chest. He smiled and pulled her closer before he fell asleep.

xx

The sun had barely risen but already Cutter was up. He checked his phone and sighed. 6:58 a.m. His team had wasted no time in waking up early. It seemed that when they were in a hotel, his pokemon liked to sleep in, but when on the road, they always got up early.

They packed up camp and were ready to go when Cutter remembered the events from the night before. He felt his stomach knot up and for some reason he was nervous. He couldn't put a finger on it, however. Maybe it was because this pokemon didn't want to be caught. All of his other pokemon, with the exception of Bellow, had been caught because they volunteered their capture. Bellow had been so young when she had been caught, though, that she didn't have any true opposition to it.

This Arbok, however, could be a different story. It was a fully evolved pokemon that had spent its life in the wild. Poison types, much like bug types, were highly aggressive pokemon that had an often one-track mind: battling. Whether that was competitively in tournaments or simply in the wild for survival, poison types enjoyed the fights. Cutter supposed that could be a good thing, if Arbok agreed to be on the team. If it was overly aggressive and attacked his other pokemon, he would have to give it away. Upholding the five he had on his team was far more important than integrating a potentially dangerous pokemon.

He pulled out his Pokedex and sighed. _May as well scan it now, while it's in the pokeball. I have a feeling that talking to it is going to require my full attention._

" _Arbok, the Cobra Pokemon,"_ the Pokedex droned, " _After stunning its opponents with the pattern on its stomach, Arbok quickly wraps them up in its body and waits for them to stop moving. The pattern on its hood can be a possibility of over twenty possible variations. This Arbok is a female and has the ability Shed Skin, which can occasionally heal status problems inflicted upon it. Arbok knows the moves bite, wrap, poison sting, glare, acid, scary face, and screech._

Cutter furrowed his eyebrows. Its move set was kind of lacking in range and power, but considering that Arbok had probably spent its whole life in this sleepy forest, it wasn't awful. Arbok probably didn't need moves stronger than these here. Grass types, which were weak to poison, were plentiful, and the flying type predators like Pidgeot and Fearow would stick to smaller, weaker prey. Cutter didn't know a lot about the Arbok line, but since she made it to evolution in the wild, she had to be at least kind of strong.

"Patriot, Bellow, make sure you're ready for anything. I don't know what it might try, but just stay on guard. Nos, just in case it tries to attack, be ready with a confusion. Cutter looked at his team as he readied himself. They didn't look particularly happy, and Cutter didn't blame them. They were about to come face to face with the pokemon that had tried to attack them in the dark the night before. His pokemon were very protective of him, and Arbok hadn't exactly gotten off to a good start.

He tossed the pokeball forward and Arbok appeared in a flash of white light. It looked beat up and it let out an angry hiss. Cutter almost took a step back, but stopped himself before he could. He had to let Arbok know that he was boss. If he showed weakness now, Arbok would never respect him.

He forced himself to stare into its eyes, avoiding looking into the pattern on its hood. He could look at that later, once he was positive Arbok wouldn't try to kill him.

"I'm Cutter. I'm your trainer now. I caught you." Arbok let out another angry hiss, but he kept his arm outstretched. "You're here whether you like it or not." Usually Cutter would be gentler after he caught a new pokemon, but pokemon like Arbok demanded respect, so neither coddling nor kindness were not an option with his newest capture. "We are on a journey to become the strongest in the world. We battle and train to grow stronger. You're already evolved. You're probably one of the strongest pokemon in this whole forest." Arbok snarled, revealing wicked sharp teeth that dripped with poison. "Okay. You're probably the strongest pokemon in the whole forest." That seemed to make Arbok at least a little happy, because she at least closed her mouth again. "There are no more pokemon in here that can challenge you, are there? We're going to become the strongest in the world. Do you want to be on this team?"

Arbok's eyes narrowed and she swayed back and forth. Cutter struggled to maintain eye contact and not glance down at the pattern on its hood. They stayed in that stalemate, but finally Arbok conceded. She lowered her head, almost bowing to Cutter, but their eye contact never broke.

"Good. That's what I like to hear. Now," Cutter said, digging around in his backpack, pulling out a potion and an Oran berry, "I'm going to heal you up with these. You took some damage last night and I need to use these if you want to feel better." There was silence before Arbok slithered closer and all of Cutter's pokemon tensed, prepared to defend their master.

Cutter uncorked the potion and sprayed it gingerly wherever she had a wound. She didn't so much as wince, which was surprising. Rillo and Bellow always recoiled, at least slightly, at the stinging liquid. He accredited it to the toughness of her scales. She had multiple layers of tough scales that overlapped in a seemingly random pattern, but Cutter knew that they overlapped the way they did in order to protect her soft insides. The overlapping of the scales also allowed Arbok to move in ways that other pokemon could only dream of. Since Arbok had no limbs or appendages, and the way their scales overlap and form layers, they are able to twist their bodies more than three hundred sixty degrees in any direction.

Luckily the damage she had taken was minimal and none of the scrapes had gone past the first layer of her scales. Some parts of her scales were scuffed or dirty, but he could clean them later, once he trusted her and she trusted him.

Once he had finished spraying the potion onto her various cuts and scrapes, Cutter held the Oran berry out gingerly in his hand. He and Arbok made eye contact before the Cobra pokemon dipped her head. He tensed up, afraid she would try to bite him. She ignored her trainer's hand, however, instead focusing on the berry. She shot out a long, forked tongue which made contact with the berry before pulling her tongue back in. Once she decided that the berry was safe, she gingerly lowered her head and grabbed the berry, swallowing it in one bite.

He wanted to pat her on the head, but he figured that would be pushing it so early on. He had to take the little victories. Now that he was up close, he saw just how pretty she was. Her deep purple scales had traces of green and red in them and they shone lightly in the dappled light that made its way through the tree tops. The pattern on her hood was unlike any he had seen on any other Arbok. The bottom of it, where her long tail-like body met the hood, was a pure black. This black portion extended up and around the entirety of the hood, starting off thick at the bottom and getting thinner as it went up. Within the black circle were two large golden circles, lined with black, and within them two smaller red orbs. Underneath the orbs, was a curving blue spot. When he looked at it, it almost looked like a face. Almost.

Cutter forced himself to stop looking at it and instead looked back up at Arbok, who seemed to be smiling wickedly. "Would you like a nickname?" Arbok narrowed her eyes again but otherwise stayed completely still. "I'll take that as a no, then," Cutter sighed.

"Do you want to stay out and walk, or slither I guess, with us, or do you want to go back into the pokeball?" Arbok seemed to think for a second before gesturing to the great ball in Cutter's hand with her tail. "Alright." Arbok disappeared into the Great ball and Cutter clipped it back onto his belt. Cutter released a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. That interaction could have easily gone south, and the last thing Cutter wanted was for Arbok to attack him or any of his other pokemon. Arbok's pride was already wounded from the loss she had suffered last night.

xx

They had been walking for several hours when they finally reached a clearing. Cutter released his pokemon and turned to Bellow. "I want to check Arbok's strength. Would you be willing to battle her?" He had debated over which pokemon to use, but ultimately figured that Bellow was the right one. Rillo wasn't strong enough, and both Nos and Silver had a type advantage. Patriot was simply too strong, so that just left Bellow.

Bellow grunted and smiled, flashing her teeth. She was looking forward to this. The Arbok had tried to sneak up on them in the dead of night to attack them, and that was not something she took kindly to.

He released Arbok who coiled up defensively and hissed, still not at all comfortable or happy with her new living arrangements. "The two of you are going to battle, okay? Arbok, I want to see how strong you are, and I think that Bellow is the best one to test you. You ready?" Bellow nodded and crouched and Arbok tensed its body and hissed. "Whenever you're ready." The two pokemon didn't hear the end of Cutter's sentence. Arbok sprung forward with surprising speed before Cutter had even finished talking.

Bellow countered with a slash and backed up before firing a warning swift which Arbok easily dodged.

Arbok rose up to its full height and let loose a screech, causing Bellow to clamp her paws over her ears and fall to her knees. Arbok capitalized on the distracted Bellow and leapt forward, wrapping her thick, muscular tail-like body around Bellow, pinning Bellow's arms to her sides. In Bellow's position, there wasn't much she could do.

 _URSAAAA_

Bellow let loose a flurry of swifts straight into the face of Arbok who countered with a poison sting. The gold and purple attacks collided in the air, a cloud of smoke erupting from the collision.

When the smoke cleared, Bellow had managed to pull one of her arms free and was slashing away at Arbok's face. Arbok decided that it had had enough and reared back, unfurling its hood.

 _SSSSSSSAAAA_

The moment Bellow caught sight of the hypnotic patter on Arbok's hood, she was lost in a trance. Arbok swayed back and forth, and Bellow followed suit. Arbok snarled and lunged forward, using poison sting to further startle Bellow before clamping down on her shoulder with a bite.

Cutter winced and bit down on his tongue, forcing himself to simply be a spectator in this battle. Bellow could hold her own, and he didn't want any of his pokemon to think he was taking sides. And when they got higher up in skill, the pokemon would only need minor coaching during the battle anyways. That all started now.

The bite pulled Bellow from her trance and she looked at Arbok in surprise before slashing at Arbok with a metal claw. The metal claw took Arbok by surprise and in Arbok's temporary lapse in concentration, Bellow pulled Arbok from her shoulder and threw her with surprising strength.

Bellow bounded after Arbok and slashed at her before retreating and falling into agility, Arbok chasing quickly after.

Arbok was very fast, Cutter noted. He only had pokemon that had legs up until this point, so he didn't exactly know the dynamics behind Arbok's movements, but regardless, he knew that she was fast.

Arbok used poison sting again, and Bellow easily dodged it before launching her own swift right back at Arbok. Arbok swerved out of the way of the swift before lunging forward, jaws wide open, ready to use bite.

Bellow used feint attack and disappeared. Arbok's jaws snapped shut on nothing, and she looked around in surprise, wondering where her target had gone. Her eyes landed on Bellow off to her right. She lunged forward again, but Bellow landed an astounding mega punch to Arbok's jaw, knocking Arbok out before she got to Bellow.

Cutter smiled and walked over to the two pokemon, pulling out two potions and two Oran berries. He was secretly relieved that Bellow had won. Restoring Bellow's pride after a loss to a brand new pokemon would be hard, and Cutter was glad that he wasn't going to have to do that. Arbok, on the other hand, would hopefully see that she wasn't as strong as the other members of the team, and want to stay on even more.

"Good job, both of you," Cutter said when he got to them. "Bellow, you did great, as always." Bellow grunted and smiled at her trainer, wincing as he applied the potion to the bite mark. He inspected it closely, but it didn't appear to have any poison in it, and the poison stings hadn't been potent enough to break through Bellow's tough hide. He looked at Arbok out of the corner of his eyes as he finished applying the potion. He thought her poison would be more potent than that, and he had seen the poison drip from her fangs earlier that day. And she hadn't used acid, either, which was a stronger, more concentrated poison move than poison sting. _Why not?_ He shrugged and moved on to Arbok.

"How are you?"

Arbok glared at Cutter, offering no other answer but that.

"Progress, I suppose. You didn't hiss at me," Cutter began spraying Arbok with the potion, talking as he went. "You did really well out there. You held your own against one of my strongest pokemon. You're going to get much stronger with us." Cutter couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like she let out an almost happy hiss when he said that, but it was too subtle for him to know for sure. "You're going to get stronger than you ever could have out here in the forest. So, I bet you're happy that you're with us now, huh?" There was no response that time, but Cutter had to take what he could get.

He handed one Oran berry to Bellow, who grumbled in thanks as she began to nibble on it. He handed the other to Arbok, who did the same thing as before. She touched it lightly with her tongue before swallowing it whole and turning away from her new trainer. Cutter smirked softly. He would break through to her somehow, no matter what. Soon, she would be another member of the team. _Sure, not all teams have one hundred percent cooperation rates, and that isn't an exception on my team. Bellow and Silver don't get along. Well, really Silver doesn't get along with anyone but Rillo and Nos. Arbok may be that way, but she'll have at least one friend on the team._

Cutter returned Bellow and he and Arbok made their way. He didn't give Arbok a choice this time around as to whether or not she wanted back in her Great ball. She was travelling outside, just the two of them.

As they walked, Cutter read more on the Pokedex about Arbok. They used their thick tail-like bodies to constrict their foes before biting in and releasing highly toxic poisons into them. They were omnivorous, eating smaller pokemon or berries, and a very specific pokemon food. Poison types were different because the poisons in their body had to be maintained. Many pokemon foods had antibodies in them that worked against toxins. This was to ensure safety and health for the pokemon eating it. This also meant that poison types had to have a specific type of pokemon food, or else their poison would be weakened, or even depleted completely.

Cutter also learned that if part of Arbok's body was cut off, as long as it was more than two feet below its hood, it could grow it back. This fact astonished Cutter so much that he had to read it two more times before it really sunk in. Arbok could also survive for up to forty-five minutes underwater before needing to come up for breath, due to an additional lung that resides in the hood.

xx

Cutter got a chance to get closer with all of his pokemon during this time, and some of the pokemon got closer to each other, as well, with the exception of Arbok. Arbok would not let any of the other pokemon get close to her. When she had to be sprayed with a potion or wanted an Oran berry, she would allow Cutter to get close to her. But as of yet, she wouldn't allow him to touch her in any other circumstances, and she always slept in her Great ball at night.

It seemed that Silver had the most trouble with the other pokemon, so Silver was out quite often. He and Patriot, no matter how long they were together, just couldn't seem to get along. Cutter hoped that Silver would get over it once he evolved into a Tyranitar, but he wasn't so sure. Tyranitar were dark and rock types, which was a double weakness to fighting types, Patriot's type.

Bellow and Silver hadn't been getting along particularly well lately, so Cutter had both of them out at the same time, forcing them to interact.

Silver and Rillo got along, but Cutter figured it was because Silver didn't feel threatened by Rillo. The only moves she had that could damage him were iron tail and tackle, but tackle was just a weak move in general and iron tail alone wasn't enough to defeat Silver. Maybe once she was evolved into an Ampharos, but even then, he doubted it.

Silver had a grudging respect for Nostradamus. Nostradamus was royalty, after all, and Silver had no choice but to respect him.

Silver certainly didn't get along with Arbok. Who did that Arbok think she was, just barging in and attacking them one night? Then all of a sudden she's a "part of the team?" Silver didn't get it, nor did he approve of it. But he wasn't the master of this team, after all. He just did as he was told and loved his master.

It wasn't that Silver didn't like the other pokemon, it was just that sometimes Silver felt forgotten, or left out. He was his Master's first pokemon. The others had just come along later. And now that he wasn't the strongest anymore, he felt as if Master didn't love him as much anymore. And he was the only pokemon left on the team that could evolve and hadn't. Even the stupid new pokemon that had just come along, Arbok, was fully evolved and strong, too, based on her battle against Bellow. He was getting left behind and he had reached the peak of his strength. He had to evolve. And so, he did.

Right there on the outskirts of Ecruteak City, as Silver was out walking with Cutter, just the two of them, he froze. Cutter looked over at Silver. "What's wrong, Silver? We're almost to Ecruteak."

Cutter's eyes grew wide as a surge of gray sand flew out of the black indents on Silver's body and swirled around him, completely engulfing him. Then the sand, and Silver, grew a bright white and Cutter was forced to shield his eyes. He realized what was happening. He had noticed that Silver had been slowing down lately, and he just attributed that to how slow their progress was, but now Cutter remembered what he had read. Larvitar slowed down substantially shortly before evolution. How had he forgotten?

The glowing stopped and a spattering of sand floated to the ground. Where Silver had just been standing seconds before, now stood a Pupitar, gray and proud, balancing on the bottom of its dome-like shell.

Cutter stared at his newly evolved starter before erupting into a huge smile. He leaned down and wrapped Silver up into a huge hug, his arms barely making it around the entirety of its thick shell. Silver elicited a contented rumble and the two stayed like that for a moment longer before Cutter let go, wanting to get a better look at his newly evolved starter.

Silver now reached close to Cutter's bellybutton in height, whereas Silver as a Larvitar stood just at mid-thigh. Four large spikes protruded from each side of the mask like armor that plated the upper portion of his cocoon, and three more spikes jutted up in the middle. His previously dusty brown skin was now an ashy blue gray, and instead of the indentations on his chest and back, they were now on the front and on the bottom of his shell. Two of the ones on the front were for his eyes. The ones on the bottom of his shell, the Pokedex informed him, were so Silver could release a buildup of pressurized gas in order to propel himself forward, backward, up, and side to side. The bottom indentations could do that along with being able to form rocks and expel sand, which was the primary purpose of the two above his eyes. Two small fins on the bottom of its shell helped it to steer itself.

Pupitar had also, upon evolution, learned bulldoze and crunch, which made Cutter even more excited. He had figured that he would teach Silver crunch soon, because it was only a step up from bite, but it appeared that evolution had done the work for him. Bulldoze was nice as well, because before this he hadn't had a damaging ground type move.

Pupitar rumbled and rubbed against his trainer, truly happy for the first time in a long time. Silver knew that he would now be able to hold his own against any member of the team, maybe with the exception of Patriot. The playful one was strong, and Silver had to respect that. Maybe one day they would be able to have a battle on equal footing. But until then, Silver would be able to defend his master better than he had as a Larvitar, and for him, that was the greatest honor.

xx

 **Hey all! Thanks for reading the story! Sorry for such a huge wait time in between chapters, school has really overtaken and destroyed all of my free time. But with summer coming up, hopefully I'll start having plenty of free time. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Leave a like, follow, and review!**


	12. The Legend

Cutter dropped off his pokemon with Nurse Joy and stepped into his room at the Pokemon Center. He dropped his backpack on the floor and flopped backwards onto the bed, utterly exhausted, not even caring about the dirt he was getting on his bed. _A bed. A real bed_. He hadn't slept in a bed in three weeks, and he could feel sleep threatening to overtake him. _Just a few minutes,_ he told himself. _No. I need to get cleaned up. And my pokemon will be ready soon._ As much as he loved his pokemon, every now and then some alone time was nice. But that feeling only lasted for about thirty minutes. He loved his pokemon too much to ever want to be without them for long. _Even Arbok,_ he resigned, smiling. Even though his newest capture was temperamental and easily agitated, she was still a part of the team, and after a week and a half with her, he was set on keeping her.

He sighed and pulled out his cell phone, checking the texts for the first time since he had gotten it. Somehow he had managed to turn the notification option for text messages to off, so he hadn't seen a single one of Wylie's texts until just then. Wylie had called very annoyed and worried earlier, but upon hearing what he had done, Wylie couldn't stop laughing. Cutter had gotten annoyed with him and hung up. He hadn't actually been annoyed, considering Silver had evolved only thirty minutes before, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with Wylie. It was just too fun, Cutter had decided.

He scrolled all the way through the texts from Wylie. At first there had only been a couple. One on the first day, one on the second. After that, the texts had increased dramatically, averaging 5-6 a day. That meant that by the end of the third week, when Cutter finally made it to Ecruteak, he had close to one hundred texts from Wylie, which Cutter just found hilarious. The "King of Dating" (Cutter had found an article online that called Wylie that) had gotten desperate.

Cutter smiled as he typed out a message to Wylie.

 **Y didn't u call me earlier? Lol**

 __Cutter was having fun using text lingo. He had seen pictures of people using it, but since he had never had a cell phone, he had never had the opportunity himself. It wasn't as fun as he thought it would be. Cutter tossed his phone onto the bed and got up to get a shower, but as soon as he did so, it dinged. A message from Wylie.

 **I tried. I don't know why it didn't go through. Kept saying call failed. The only reason I didn't call the Forest Rangers is because I'm tracking your location with the phone. You were making steady process, so I decided you were a big boy and could take care of yourself.**

Cutter smiled and typed up a response.

 **U R TRACKING ME?!**

Cutter hesitated before he hit send. Wylie didn't use the text lingo that was seemingly so popular. Should he? He decided he didn't care and sent the message, figuring that if Wylie had any thoughts about it, he would make them known.

He stepped into the bathroom, ignoring the _ding_ that notified him that he had gotten yet another text. "Woof," Cutter muttered, staring at himself in the mirror. He was, if only slightly, skinnier than he had been before he left Goldenrod. Twigs stuck out of his hair at odd angles, and there was a thick layer of dirt that covered his left cheek. Not to mention he smelled. He had deodorant, he just had forgotten to put it on.

He stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash over him as he lathered up with soap and shampoo. He watched mud, sticks, and twigs mix in with the sudsy water and fall off of him as they swirled down the drain. He stayed like that for longer than he cared to admit as he forgot about all of the problems in his life. He forgot about Regina and he forgot about Tycoon and the missing Gary Oak and he forgot about trying to train a temperamental Arbok. He thought instead of all the good things. He thought of Wylie and Silver's evolution and his upcoming gym match.

He stepped out of the shower and into the bathroom, steamy from the heat of the shower. He dried himself and got dressed, purposefully ignoring the phone. He didn't want to become addicted to it like so many people in the Kanto region were. And he certainly didn't want it to take away from training.

xx

Nurse Joy slid the tray containing three pokeballs, a great ball, and a premier ball across the counter to Cutter. _One is missing._ With all the atrocities that had happened recently, his thoughts automatically went to a bad place. His mind started racing, coming up with all sorts of dreadful situations. "Here are your pokemon, Mr. Robinson. They're all doing just fine." The knot in his stomach loosened, but not completely. She still hadn't explained where his other pokeball was. "I would like to keep your Pupitar overnight, however, if that is okay with you. He seems to be doing alright, I just want to keep an eye on his vitals and make sure that the transition from Larvitar to Pupitar is as seamless as it can be!"

Cutter sighed, his relief obvious. "Of course! Thank you so much, Nurse Joy. I was worried something was wrong for a second there."

"No need to be worried, but I do understand. I'm sorry for any fear I caused." She smiled an apologetic smile and tilted her head, and Cutter could tell that she was genuinely sorry.

He smiled and walked away, clipping the balls to his belt as he went. It was dark out now, and he didn't want to explore the city for the first time at night, so he made his way to the cafeteria. He and his team could eat a good meal before Cutter had to do what he dreaded the most. Bath time.

xx

Dinner went better than he expected it to. His team was surprisingly behaved. Then again, he didn't have particularly rambunctious pokemon. The most boisterous pokemon he had was Patriot, and even Patriot was decently calm. Well, for the most part. At point during the meal he did pour a bowl of spaghetti onto Bellow's head, and Bellow did stand up and growl threateningly, but Cutter returned them both before it could get any _more_ out of hand. Even Arbok ate relatively close by. She didn't interact with the rest of the team, but she didn't hiss threateningly or bare her fangs like she usually did. At one point, she even let Cutter approach her. He didn't try petting her, though. He felt as if that might be pushing it. But he took the small victories with her when he could.

xx

Bath time, on the other hand, did not go nearly as well. Usually he tried to have everyone out at once, that way at least splashed water and soap would get on the others, therefore eliminating the amount of work he had to do, but with five pokemon, and four of them being in their final stages, he didn't think he could handle that.

He started with Rillo. He didn't think she would be the easiest to clean, but he didn't think she would be the hardest, either. She didn't have a problem with water at all, considering how much she loved to play in the storms. It was soap she didn't like.

"Hey, Rillo. We're going to take a bath now, okay?"

 _Laaa?_

"With soap and water. But it'll be fun!" Cutter assured her when he saw the look of fear on her face. "I promise. The water will be kind of warm, like rain water. And I'll only use a little bit of soap." She wasn't quite convinced. "AND you're the first pokemon that I'm bathing." That did it for her. She loved to feel special.

The rest of her bath went well. She was tense for a lot of it, and Cutter understood. Personally, he was terrified of getting shocked. Water was a conductor, and he had even avoided playing in the rain with her for that very reason. But that didn't happen. She seemed to understand the gravity of controlling her electricity, because not once did Cutter even see a spark roll through her blue wool.

After Rillo was Nostradamus. Cutter knew that Nos would be the easiest one to clean. He was a king, after all, and kings love to be clean. At least, Cutter thought they did. He didn't really know.

Cutter released Nos and inspected him. His once pure white coat was dusty and not caked with mud. Nos did a good enough job of cleaning himself on the road, but over the last few days Nos had been involved in several battles and was ultimately too tired to clean himself.

 _How have you been, Father?_

 _Fine._ Cutter soaped up the washcloth and began to clean Nos's legs and hooves, the dirtiest part of him. _I'm doing fine. How are you?_

 _I am fair. Getting acquainted with our newest teammate has been,_ he paused, _interesting. She is different than the others. Very different._

 _In a bad way?_

Nos stopped to think again. _No. All pokemon are different, you know this, and therefore they all have very different personalities. Most of the personalities on this team are outgoing, friendly, and playful. Even the Protector, who is not overly playful, still consciously shows love for the members of the team._

 _But how is Arbok different?_

 _Well, Arbok is not outgoing or even very friendly. She isn't necessarily mean, either though. She just hasn't figured out how to fit in on this team yet, and her personality does not lend itself to groups. It is what you humans would call an introvert, I believe._

 _She's introverted._

 _Yes, Father. Introverted. She did not want to be captured._

 _Well, I could've told you that._ Cutter chuckled. _But now? How does she feel about it now?_

 _Well, Arbok are very territorial, from what I have learned, and this one is no different. She cares about you, although she won't show it until you prove yourself to her. And I don't mean proving your strength. You've done that already. She respects you greatly. But you have to prove to her that you care. You've proved it to the rest of us time and time again, so I doubt it will be too difficult for you, Father. You are quite caring. Don't fret. We all care for you quite greatly. Especially the Protector._

 _Who is the Protector? You said that earlier, but I don't know who it is._

 _The Protector is the Larvitar, or Pupitar now, I should say._

 _Why do you call him that?_

 _We all call each other those things. I am The King. The Ursaring is the Fast One. The Passimian is the Playful One. The Flaaffy is the Lighting, although I believe that will change. We don't know what the Arbok is yet, but her name will come to us soon enough._

 _What do you mean "that will change?"_

 _I don't know, Father. I told you before that she has a far greater role to play in this than any of the rest of us._

 _I'm not sure I'm following._

 _I have recently begun to harness the powers of Future Sight. I have begun to be able to see, although in fragments only, and only through my second head._ Nos gestured with his front head to his tail-end head. _It has many limitations, Future Sight does, but it is still an incredible gift that I shall learn to harness._

Cutter furrowed his brow in thought as he continued to clean Nos. He stayed silent, in his mind at least, for a while.

 _What are you thinking, Father?_

 _Don't you know? Can't you read my thoughts?_

 _Yes, Father, I can, but I try not to. I prefer it when we are able to trust each other and you tell me things of your own accord. I don't like to pry. You are the head of this team. Not I. It is not my place to know everything._

Cutter smiled as he stood up. He took Nos's head in his hands and scratched the underside of Nos's chin, eliciting a wave of contentedness. No longer did he have to squat to pet Nostradamus. Nos was now as tall as he was, which was nearly six feet.

 _How much taller do you think you'll grow?_

 _My grandfather was nearly nine feet tall. And I'm not even a year old yet. I believe that I will grow to be at least as tall as him, if not slightly taller._

Cutter smiled. _That's what I like to hear, Nos._

The rest of Nos's bath went fine. Nos enjoyed it, as did Cutter. They ended up having a bit of a water war, which Nostradamus easily won, considering he could pick up the water with his psychic abilities and chase Cutter around with it. The bathroom was an absolute mess by the time Cutter returned Nos and released Patriot, who enjoyed the bath more than anyone else.

To Patriot, it was just a game, and Cutter quickly realized that. In order for him to get Patriot clean, it would have to be a game. They tossed water and squirted soap and threw wash cloths. At one point, Patriot put his helmet on Cutter's head and Cutter couldn't see anything and he slipped and fell. Luckily he was wearing the helmet, or else he would have slammed his head on the counter. He stood up, dazed but smiling. Everything was a little wobbly, though.

By the time he returned Patriot and released Bellow, Cutter was in nothing but his underwear, which Bellow found _quite_ amusing. She stopped finding it funny the moment she realized that she was standing ankle deep in soap and water, though. She began to panic and Cutter struggled to calm her.

"It's okay, girl. It's okay. It's just a bath. You don't even have to get wet. I'll just wipe you down with a washcloth. You really need to be cleaned up. You want to be pretty, don't you?" That got to her. She wanted to be beautiful and strong, so she resigned to letting Cutter wipe her down with a damp washcloth. He worked as much of the mud and dirt off of her as he could. Ultimately, he got her _much_ cleaner, but it wasn't great.

He thought about looking into professional groomers. They could be expensive, but they did make pokemon happier. A professional would do a much better and efficient job than Cutter ever could, at least with Bellow. And the money wasn't too much of an issue. He would be getting a monthly paycheck from the League. He didn't know how much it was going to be, but it was more than nothing. Plus, he hadn't lost a single battle on the way from Goldenrod to Ecruteak, so money wasn't as much of an issue as it used to be.

Speaking of groomers, he needed to get Rillo sheared again. It had been over a month, and she was definitely needing it. He was sure there was plenty of dirt and mud that he hadn't been able to get out of her wool on his own.

Cutter returned Bellow and braced himself. _Do I try with Arbok?_ He contemplated it for a moment before Nos's words came back to him. _You have to prove to her that you care._ He sighed. His mind was made up. He had to at least try. She didn't have to accept it, but she would at least see that he had tried.

Arbok hissed upon release before noticing the wet floor. She started slapping her tail in it, almost playfully, it seemed to Cutter. It was a funny sight, seeing an Arbok take up most of the bathroom play in the water that covered the floor.

 _SSSaaa_

"Tonight is bath night." Arbok cocked her head, not seeming to understand. "A bath is where you get cleaned up. I wash you. We can use the shower," he leaned down and turned on the shower, "and it's kind of like rain!"

Arbok looked at him suspiciously. "Just give me a chance, girl. You'll like it. And the water is nice and warm. It's really nice."

She looked between him and the shower before finally deciding it would be okay. She slithered over to the shower and stuck her head under. Cutter smiled and squirted some soap onto a washcloth before gently sliding it over the back of her hood, making sure to be gentle. He smiled as she eventually settled down and allowed him to wash her. It took a while. Realistically, she had never had a real bath in her life. Maybe she had gotten clean in a lake or with rain, but never properly like this. Plus, she shed her skin every so often, so the dirt and grim went away with every new skin she shed.

Washing her took the longest, mostly because of how large she was and how slowly Cutter went. He didn't want to risk angering her or losing her trust. They didn't play much, like how Cutter did with the others, but they did enjoy their time. At one point, she even closed her eyes, which seemed to tell Cutter that she was content. She didn't let him clean her hood, however.

Overall, bath time went well. He had to spend upwards of another hour and a half cleaning the bathroom up after his wild team wrecked it, but the bonding he did with them that day made it well worth it.

xx

Cutter stepped outside into the warm morning air. He had just picked up Silver from Nurse Joy, who informed him that he was as healthy as he could be.

The city of Ecruteak was an old settlement, the oldest in all of Johto, in fact, and the architecture of the buildings and the way the city was set up only served to reinforce that fact. It was one of the smaller cities in Johto, even though it was the cultural center of the region. People travelled from all over the world to come and see the legendary Bell Tower and hear the mythology behind the legendary pokemon of Johto. Now Cutter was here. He planned on challenging the gym for sure, but first there were some other things he wanted to do.

Cutter walked through the streets, Nostradamus following closely behind, garnering more than a few wayward stares. He had seen a poster in the Pokemon Center that advertised a battle challenge against the Kimono Girls. He thought that he might want to explore the city some, but something inside him insisted upon going to visit these Kimono Girls. He didn't know why, but he knew that he had to first thing that day. So, he did some research into them and found out that their Dance Theatre was just a few blocks from the Pokemon Center he was staying in, and he headed out to find it.

He nearly missed the Dance Theatre. It was very low-key and one would never guess it was a theatre. Cutter generally thought of theatres as being big and flashy, but this one was the exact opposite of that. The words _Dance Theatre_ were perched in small wooden letters above the single door, but other than that, there was nothing to symbolize that this was the place.

Cutter pushed the door open gingerly, not quite sure how to enter. Nostradamus followed closely behind, pushing the door open with his mind.

"Hello," a soft feminine voice called. Cutter looked up and saw the voice belonged to a pretty older lady dancing on the stage, her fiery red kimono swirling around her. Cutter could have sworn that they were real flames, but… that just wasn't possible.

"Oh, um, I'm here for the battle challenge against the Kimono Girls," Cutter stammered. For some reason, he was incredibly nervous, but he couldn't put a finger on why. The longer he was standing there, the more his stomach knotted and twisted. Nostradamus could tell that his trainer was nervous, so he stood close by him for comfort.

"No you're not, dear." She stopped dancing and stared straight at him. They made eye contact. To his right, Nos collapsed onto his front knees, face pained, but Cutter couldn't tear his eyes away from the Kimono Girl standing in front of him. He swallowed and suddenly his head exploded with pain and he collapsed.

xx

 _HAAAAAOOOOOMMMMMMMMM_

 _The humming came from all sides. The black mass encompassing the area around him was churning with what felt like anger. No, not anger. Annoyance maybe?_

 _A bright light shining above. The light was brighter, more distinct this time, but not unbearably so. It almost had a shape. But each time he thought he might be able to focus on it, the swirling black mass would overtake it before being forced back by the light again. The black mass. He could almost make out individual parts of it. Is it one large being? Or is it many smaller beings making up the larger one?_

 _The swirling vortex was creating a suction and pulling all of the oxygen from the where he was. He began to choke and he struggled to reach his arms up, to reach for help from the light, but he found that his arms could not move. The light seemed to sense his turmoil, though. It exploded in a violent flash of light that he could not draw his eyes from. When the light dimmed again, his vision was still intact and the boiling whirlpool of black around him had receded._

 _The light disappeared from above and then reappeared right in front of him. No, not in front of him. It was all around him, but in front of him at the same time. He could make out a shape now. Green, maybe? Or yellow. No, green. With large blue eyes. It was small. Small but radiating power. A pokemon, he realized. But which one? He knew it, but he couldn't put a finger on it._

The time is coming.

 _The voice was inside his head, but he knew it was coming from the being- pokemon? -in front of him. He struggled to force out words, but he still couldn't move, although his breath had returned to him._

 _A small green hand emerged from the light and pressed against his forehead, and suddenly he wasn't within the black mass anymore. He was floating above a city. Ecruteak, he realized. But it wasn't the Ecruteak he knew. The Burned Tower was restored to its former glory, what it was depicted as in the pictures, back when it was the Brass Tower. A crack of thunder and a burst of lightning from seemingly nowhere, and suddenly the Burned Tower was on fire._

 _And then he was within it, in what he assumed was the basement, and the flames were right above him, threatening to encroach. From off to his left came the pained whines of a pokemon. Maybe more. He whipped his head around and caught sight of three pokemon. Red, blue, and yellow. They looked familiar, more common than the one to his left, holding his hand._

 _The wooden floors above them collapsed, bringing with them a whole host of wooden beams and brass walls. The pokemon screamed out and were engulfed by the flames and debris. He tried to scream and run towards them, but still he could not move anything but his head. He looked over to the pokemon holding his hand, but it was focused on the flames in front of them. It appeared to be crying._

 _He tore his eyes away from the pokemon next to him and focused again on the events unfolding in front of him. Even though the blaze was only feet from him, he felt no heat. In fact, he felt nothing at all. Nothing but sadness at the fate of the pokemon in front of him._

 _A downpour of rain came from seemingly nowhere, just as the lightning had, and with it came a deafening roar, completely putting out the flames. He looked up and just barely made out a glint of silver falling from the sky amidst the rain. He felt his hand rise, and in it landed a feather the color of pure silver. With that, the rain stopped and in its place, came a rainbow. From where the rainbow seemed to be fell another feather, landing in his other hand. This feather practically glowed in his hand, exhibiting all the colors of the rainbow and more. Colors he didn't even recognize._

 _His attention was drawn from the feather in his hand to a flash of red, blue, and yellow erupting from the wreckage. From the debris burst three beings, pokemon, he figured, but they weren't the same as the ones that had been engulfed before. Or were they? He couldn't tell. They were the same colors as the ones before, but these radiated power and demanded respect. He made eye contact with the yellow one as the blue one and the red one bounded away, leaving behind them a trail of mist and smoke respectively._

 _The yellow one with whom he had made eye contact roared with all the power of a thunderstorm before breaking eye contact and leaping away, leaving what seemed to be a storm cloud that crackled with electricity in his wake._

 _Suddenly he and the being were back above Ecruteak, but now the Burned Tower was gone completely. Not even its charred remains still stood. He looked around and the sacred Bell Tower was burning, but this fire was manmade. How he could tell, he didn't know. But it was._

 _From nowhere, the Yellow Beast from before bounded in, the trail of thunderclouds following it once again. But this time, on its back, was a person. He didn't have long to figure out who this person was because from opposite directions came the Blue Beast and the Red Beast. They blurred to the top of the building, seemingly running up the side of it before landing at the top._

 _Bells began chiming, glorious silver bells that made his whole body shake and fill with warmth and joy. The bells rang out, covering what felt like the entirety of the Johto Region, but the flames that engulfed the Bell Tower were not quenched._

 _In another flash of light, he found himself at the base of what would eventually become the Bell Tower. It wasn't finished yet, though. It was in the beginning stages of being built. Even though it was not even a building yet, he could feel the presence of the same beings that were at the Brass Tower before it was the burned tower. The Rain and the Rainbow. Their presences emanated over the area surrounding the future location of the Bell Tower._

 _And then they were gone from Ecruteak completely. They were in Ilex Forest at the small wooden shrine where he had collapsed so long ago. But pokemon were all around it and the plant life in the surrounding area was green and lush._

 _The pokemon holding his hand let go and floated over to the shrine, taking its place inside. Then his world went black._

xx

He awoke in a small cot, a warm rag on his forehead and candles lit around the room, casting it in shadow and giving it a warm glow. He tried to sit up but his head swam with remnants of pain, so he laid back down. He saw Nostradamus sitting off to the side looking worn out, but none the worse for wear.

 _Nos!_

 _I am well, Father. How are you?_

 _I'm fine, Nos._

 _It is hard to communicate with the foreign energy in the room._

"You are awake," a woman said, unknowingly interrupting them. She looked strikingly similar to the woman in the red kimono from earlier, but hers was a pure black and seemed to carry darkness along with it. Next to her was an Umbreon whose forehead glowed golden with mysterious energy. _Umbreon must be the foreign energy,_ Cutter told himself. A gentle prod in his mind from Nos told him he was correct.

"What's going on?" Cutter asked. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples, but found there was something in his hands. In his left, a feather the color of pure silver. In the other, a feather that glowed with all the colors of the rainbow. His mouth fell open, forming a perfect "O" and the woman smiled slightly.

"I'm afraid we don't have all of the answers. But if you give me just a moment, Umbreon will go and get my sisters and we will explain as much to you as we can." Umbreon turned and ran out and shortly after four more women, all looking the exact same with the exception of a different colored kimono, filed in, a different Eeveelution following each of them.

"Whoa," Cutter sighed. He tore his eyes away from the feathers in his hands that seemed to demand his attention and looked up at the sisters, who were all staring back at him.

"Mr. Robinson. I am Zuki." She was the one with the Umbreon, the one with the pure black kimono. "These are my sisters. Naoko in red, Sayo in pink, Kuni in blue, and Miki in yellow."

"I'm Cutter," he muttered, looking back and forth between all of them.

Sayo giggled, her eyes glowing red, signifying a Mind Link. "Silly boy. We know who you are."

"You do?" Cutter asked, eyes widening.

"Of course," this time it was Naoko speaking. They seemed to transition seamlessly between each other while speaking.

Cutter sat silently, not knowing what to say.

"Why don't you tell us about what you experienced in your black out," Zuki said, stroking her Umbreon.

Cutter, slowly and painstakingly, recounted his vision to them. He didn't spare a single detail, and once he got to the part about the feathers, they all crowded in, craning their necks to get a good look at them. Once he was done they all sat there in silence.

"So," Cutter began, twirling the silver feather in between his fingers, the rainbow feather lying in his lap, glimmering beautifully in the candle light, "what's going on?"

"Your vision wasn't a vision," Miki said.

"It wasn't?" Cutter asked incredulously.

"What do you think? You awoke with those feathers in your hand. How do you explain that?"

Cutter bowed his head. He had thought about that, but didn't know how to explain it. "I don't know," he admitted.

"It was both a vision and a journey. Your mind truly went to those places while your body remained here. As for what specifically you experienced, well, there's only so much we can tell you."

Cutter leaned forward, almost desperately, longing for answers. "What can you tell me? I've gotten headaches and passed out before. In them I had visions, but nothing like today's. Why is this one different? What were those pokemon?"

"You know of the Legends of Johto?" Zuki asked gently.

"I mean, I know of them. But aren't they just that? Legends?"

"What do you think? After what you experienced today," Zuki smiled.

Then it all clicked. "The pokemon I was with. Was Celebi. And then the rain was brought by Lugia? And the rainbow from Ho-Oh. Then the ones that rose up from the Brass Tower were Entei, Suicune, and Raikou."

"Exactly, Cutter."

"What about that black mass?"

"Unown. When many of them are together, they become like a hive and can't control what they are doing. More than likely, they were being controlled by another being, or they are merely representative of something else. But more than likely, someone is against you."

"But why me? And why now? And what did you mean by both a vision and a journey?" Cutter was almost crying by then, completely overwhelmed.

"It is said that when the Brass Tower burned to the ground, Lugia dropped a single feather for a brave trainer to find, and Ho-Oh dropped a single feather for a pure-hearted trainer to find. We always thought that was metaphorical and that the feathers would make themselves known to the trainer who finally revealed himself, but it appears that we were wrong," Zuki sighed. "Long ago, we thought we found that trainer, but we were wrong. We believe that many trainers could be the right trainer, but for some reason you were in the right place at the right time. Sometimes the trainers that Celebi chooses doesn't work out. Neither of the boys from before did not. And maybe you will not. Maybe we will have to wait another thirty years before another person that has been marked by a Legend will walk through our doors." She paused. "Maybe only a week. Potentially, many people can be marked by legends at the same time. You may have assistance in your quest, whatever that quest may be. I believe you will, but that is just a feeling I have. Don't dwell on that too much."

Cutter sat there, mouth slightly open, struggling to find words. "But why do I have these feathers? If there are other people touched by Legends or whatever, why am I the one that has these feathers?"

"In our experience, whenever one is touched by a Legend, they are touched by multiple. Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Celebi have chosen to impart themselves upon you. However, Celebi could also have bonded with someone else. And that someone else could have been touched by Raikou and Entei. The possibilities are endless." She paused, as if not sure what to say next. "And, sometimes, Legends from other regions make themselves known here. We believe that this is going to be a fight for more than just the Johto region. Do not be surprised if you are visited by Legends you have no knowledge of. Take it as an opportunity to learn."

"Other regions? Does that mean that there are trainers from other regions who will be marked, or branded, or touched or whatever, too?"

"Yes, Mr. Robinson, I do believe so. But, what is supposed to come, will come regardless of the knowledge you have. As for what happened today, with your mind going on the journey but your body staying here, you said you have had these visions before?"

"Yes."

"And you are from Azalea Town, are you not?" He nodded and she continued. "And I'm going to assume that these headaches have been coming around since you were a child in Azalea?" Again, Cutter nodded. "Right. Well, Ilex Forest is where Celebi is rumored to live. And if I'm correct, something happened when you were younger that gave your family cause to leave Azalea Town. I'm sure that has something to do with Celebi, but that is just background information." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, when you were younger, Celebi must have already known that you would be the Chosen One. Celebi gave you the ability of Mind-Travel. Quite literally, Celebi gave you a piece of itself."

"Mind-Travel?" Cutter asked hesitantly. "Wait, Celebi is inside of me?"

"Yes. You are not able to literally time travel within your present, finite body. But within your heart and soul and mind, you are able to, under the correct circumstances, travel backwards and forwards in time. That is what happened today. Celebi finally powered through your finite being and took you where you needed to go. You are not able to do it on your own, but when Celebi wishes, and is able, it can take you to what you need to see. The entirety of Celebi is not within you, just a piece. That is why Celebi is not always strong enough to take you to different times. But being here in Ecruteak, the centerpiece for this whole thing, must have given Celebi enough power to do what it needed to do."

There was a long, heavy silence before Cutter finally spoke. "So I have a fragment of a mythical pokemon inside of me. A mythical pokemon that can allow my mind to time travel when it can?"

Sayo paused before answering. "Basically, that is it."

"I can't believe this." Cutter laughed. He didn't know what to believe. He dropped his head into his hands and his laughter turned into tears.

"Mr. Robinson," Zuki began, "this is serious."

 _Father, it is true._

 _What?_

 _That is why I collapsed, Father. I had been holding off the headaches. I have been limiting the pain that Celebi was putting you through._

 _Nos, I'm so sorry._

 _Father, do not take any blame upon yourself for this. It was my duty. I knew that something like this would happen. Why do you think I imprinted upon you? Grandfather and I recognized the greatness in you. You have nothing to be sorry for._

Cutter smiled at Nos softly before turning back towards the Kimono Girls. "Okay." He paused, running his hands through his hair. "Okay."

"I'm assuming you will be challenging Morty sometime soon?" Kuni asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to participate in the battle challenge here and go to the Burned Tower first, though."

"I highly recommend you go to the Burned Tower tomorrow," Miki suggested. "You may find some answers you are looking for, and regardless it is something you should see."

"Tomorrow? Why not today?"

"Mr. Robinson," Zuki said softly, "it is nearly midnight. You were out for nearly sixteen hours."

Cutter sat there, not believing his ears. He had never been out for so long before. He clamped his eyes shut and took deep breaths. "Who are you?"

"We've already told you our names, Cutter," one of them said. He didn't bother looking up to tell who.

"No, who are you? How do you know all this," he paused, "shit?" He waved his arms, emphasizing the word.

Sayo began speaking, "We are the guardians of the Bell Tower. The people in our family have been the guardians of various different things here in Johto over the last several centuries. Before the Bell Tower, our ancestors guarded the Brass Tower. Before that, they protected the Shrine of Celebi. We have been brought and raised and taught with information that will help us to save the Johto region. We, along with Morty, are here in order to assist the ones who are marked by Legends to succeed in whatever way we possibly can."

xx

Cutter said his goodbyes to the Kimono Girls and made his way back to the Pokemon Center. He left Nostradamus with Nurse Joy that night, just to make sure there were no lingering effects from his collapse earlier that day.

Cutter released his team and fell backwards onto the bed. Everyone slept out that night, even Arbok, for some reason. Apparently, the bath had done far more for her trust of Cutter than he realized.

He had trouble falling asleep that night. His mind was racing, playing back the visions he had seen that day and repeating the conversations with the Kimono Girls. At some point, it occurred to him that this must have something to do with the disappearance of Gary Oak. He must have been the trainer that the Kimono Girls spoke of. That was why Tycoon had taken him. They must have thought he had known something. But they said trainers. Plural. That meant there was another, and the way they said it, it seemed as if both trainers from before came about at the same time. But who was the other one?

Finally, after several hours, he slipped into an uneasy sleep where he dreamed of the Unown smothering him over and over again with seemingly no escape

xx

Cutter stared at the entrance of the Burned Tower before walking in, Bellow and Nos following behind closely. Cutter looked around and found the floor was noticeably weak in many places, and altogether gone in some. He could see a large hole that led to what must be the basement. Large wooden planks hung down from the ceiling, and sunlight shone through where the roof had collapsed. The old building creaked with every step he took, and before his experience yesterday, he might have found the place spooky. Today, though, he just found it sad. Even though it was an important part of Johto's history, people who truly wanted to learn about the place studied it from afar, in a classroom setting. The infrastructure was too damaged to support too many people at once.

"Stay close. I don't want us getting separated in here. Who knows where the floor is weak." Looking at the state of the place, Cutter wouldn't normally have any pokemon out, but the Kimono Girls had assured him that people held battles in there all the time and that his pokemon were safe.

 _Father, I am worried._

"Nos, it's fine. There's nothing to be worried about," he looked back at Nos and smiled reassuringly.

 _Yes, Father._

They continued walking for a while and saw no one. He figured with as much as the Kimono Girls had encouraged him to come here, more people would be there.

Bellow dropped to all fours and pawed in front of Cutter, staring over the scraggy edge that loomed above the basement far below, where razor sharp shards of wood jutted up, signifying the weak floor they were currently standing on. Cutter walked up behind her and put his hand on her back, looking over as well. Nos was warier about it, however, and stayed farther back.

"How do you two reckon we get down there?" Cutter asked, stepping away. He wasn't too keen on falling into the basement, not when taking the stairs was an option.

Bellow grunted, as if to say "don't ask me."

 _I believe there is a staircase across the pit, Father. There is a way around it to the right._

"To the right then!" Cutter walked forward, ahead of both Bellow and Nos, when a resounding _CRACK_ rang out. Cutter spun around to find Bellow perched precariously on the edge of the pit, the wood beneath her splintering. Then, she was gone, falling.

"BELLOW!" Cutter screamed as he ran forward and, without thinking, launched himself over the edge of the splintered wood, falling after Bellow.

It was as if time was going in slow motion. The fall, which realistically could not have taken more than two or three seconds, seemed to take hours. Cutter was considerably lighter than Bellow and couldn't catch up to her, no matter how hard he tried. He saw Bellow slow before he stopped completely, hanging in air. He looked up. Nos had caught him. He smiled and looked down, sure to find Bellow hanging just below him, but that wasn't what he saw at all. Nos hadn't caught Bellow like he had caught him. Bellow had kept falling and was laying on the floor of the basement.

One of her arms was angled in a way that it wasn't supposed to be, and her leg was pulled up underneath her awkwardly, and a liquid that Cutter figured could only be blood was pooling up very quickly around her from a wound in her stomach. It appeared that one of the wooden planks had gone straight through her.

Bile rose up in Cutter's throat and he struggled to hold it back as he yelled, or thought, he couldn't really tell, to put him down. His throat was raw, so he figured he must be screaming. _What is Nos doing? Why is he pulling me back up?_ "NOS PUT ME DOWN!" Cutter screamed as he was being lifted.

 _I cannot set you down, Father. I have called for emergence services, but you must stay up here with me. It is far too dangerous down there for you._ Emotion often couldn't be told through telepathy, but Cutter could feel the remorse and regret piercing Nos's every word.

Cutter sat there, rocking back and forth, which was all the movement Nos was allowing him. He tried to get up and run around to the staircase, but Nos held him firm. The confusion around him would have been comforting if he wasn't sure that his pokemon was dying not fifty feet from him. He screamed and screamed some more. _WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HER, NOS?_ Tears were streaming down his face by then and his nose was runny and snotty. He didn't dare try to speak.

 _I tried Father, but she… she refused to be caught. She must have some dark typing in her, Father. There was nothing I could do._ Nos collapsed down on his front knees, trying to keep from crying as well.

Cutter wanted to comfort Nos. He wanted to tell Nos that it was okay, and that he had saved him and that that was enough, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. Cutter went completely blank, disassociating from the situation completely, which doctors later told him was completely normal when one goes into shock. _Someone told me that. Someone told me Bellow had some dark typing in her. Who was it? A man, I think? Or was it a woman. I don't…_

A group of emergency services professionals came in through the front door, but Cutter was too out of it to register. He was having trouble even sitting upright at that point. The only reason he was able to was because Nos was holding him.

xx

The next several hours went by in a blur. The team of emergency services professionals went down and got Bellow from the basement of the Burned Tower, which was now strictly off limits to the general public. He spent a few hours in a waiting room in the back of a Pokemon Center. _I've never been to this part of the Pokemon Center before_ , he told himself. _This must be where they bring the serious cases._

After a while he stopped crying. The doctors took Nos away pretty early on to make sure he hadn't suffered any psychological trauma. Cutter wanted to yell at them, "Nos saved me! Give him a damn medal and check on Bellow! Nos is okay. Leave him with me!" _Leave Nos with me. I need Nos. I need him._ And then he started crying all over again.

He didn't release any of his other pokemon while he waited. They didn't need to know what happened yet, and he didn't think he had it in him to tell them. And he didn't have any answers yet, so no point in scaring them for no reason.

After a while a doctor brought Nos back in his premiere ball and Cutter clipped it to his waist. He needed to apologize to Nos, but he couldn't do it. Not yet. Nos deserved a better apology than one he could give right then. Nos deserved a better trainer than Cutter, really, but Nos wouldn't agree with that. Nos would force those thoughts from his mind and instead replace them with fond memories and waves of love.

xx

When a Nurse Joy finally came out to speak with Cutter, he was lying on the floor and his face was red and puffy from all the off and on crying he had been doing.

"Mr. Robinson," she said, touching his shoulder softly. He grunted. "Can you please sit up? I need to speak with you about your Ursaring." Cutter sat up slowly, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his shirt before looking up at her. She sat down next to him and gave him a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "Your Ursaring is in critical condition, but she is going to be okay." Cutter began sobbing again and the Nurse Joy allowed him to rest his head on her shoulder. She patted it lovingly, as if she did this all the time, which she probably did. Trainers could be emotional. "She suffered a broken leg, arm, back, and she was pierced through her midsection by a shard of wood. Luckily the wood missed any vitals and went cleanly through her. Ultimately, I think that is what saved her. If the wood would have gone through even an inch to the left, it would have pierced her lung and she would have drowned in her own blood before our paramedics would have been able to get there." She paused and allowed him to take this in. "But she is in critical condition. She will have to stay here for quite a while. There are many surgeries that have had to be done, and this is far too complex for us to simply use Ditto cells to speed up the recovery. For the first several months, this is going to have to be completely natural for her."

"Months?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes. She is going to have to stay here in Ecruteak for at least four, maybe six months in order to heal. Your Ursaring is very lucky, Cutter."

Cutter smiled a bittersweet smile. Bellow was going to be okay. She was going to have a long and hard road of recovery, but she was okay. Bellow, the first pokemon he ever caught. The first evolution he saw happen. The Mother of the team. She was going to be okay.

Cutter stayed leaning on her for far too long, but Nurse Joy let him. She understood. She had lost a pokemon once, long ago, and knew all too well what it felt like. She chose to become a Nurse not only because it was her family's trade, but also because she loved delivering that news to trainers that their pokemon would be okay. Sure, it was hard sometimes delivering bad news, but the good news made it worth it.

After a while, Cutter blew his nose into his shirt, at that point he didn't really care anymore, and took his head off her shoulder. "Thank you." He smiled softly and tears threatened to spill from his eyes again, but he held them back. Bellow needed a strong trainer, and Cutter had to be that for her. "Thank you, Nurse Joy."

xx

 **Hey! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. A lot happened this time, and I'm happy that some big plot stuff finally got to come to fruition here! Thanks to Melior for beta reading the chapter for me! Leave a like, review, or follow, or feel free to PM me! Always happy to talk about the story! Thanks for reading!**


	13. Fog

It had been nearly two months since the accident with Bellow in the tower. Cutter had spent a considerable amount of time doing, well, nothing, and he had yet to do anything of value, like challenge Morty or discover the secrets of the Rainbow and Silver feather. Plus, the headaches were back now that Nos wasn't blocking them anymore. Although, they weren't as bad as they once had been, so he suspected Nos might be taking some of the pain off of him.

Bellow had been there for every one of his gym challenges so far. She had battled in every one of them. He only had two badges, but he had challenged three leaders. Three gym challenges, all with Bellow. He didn't know if he even would have used her for Morty's gym, but she at the very least would have been there. She wouldn't be there for this one, and Cutter didn't think he was prepared to take on a gym without her.

He had cried a lot for the first couple of weeks. It got to be so bad that he stopped having the rest of his team sleep out with him. They needed their rest, and they couldn't get it with his constant crying each night. Silver, however, refused to go into his pokeball at night, instead opting to sit silently next to his sleeping bag, protecting his Master from all dangers except those inside of him.

He had been avoiding all texts and calls, except the weekly call he got from the League, confirming his location and letting him know that they had no assignments for him. After a while, even Wylie stopped texting. Cutter almost felt bad, but he couldn't find it inside of himself to really care. Although he did suspect that Wylie would come looking for him soon.

Practically every waking moment was spent either wandering the forest to the east of Ecruteak or Mt. Mortar to the west, or training, and the only time he ever went back into Ecruteak was to get supplies for him and his team or to check on Bellow, who was still recovering. She still couldn't move much, but Nurse Joy told him that within the month, she would be able to get up and begin therapy.

Bellow was always happy to see him, but she was pained, he could tell. He loved being with her, but seeing her hurt so much hurt him as well. He brought her treats, usually honey and a few berries, and he fed them to her. He even let her lick honey off of his hand, which made her smile her big, sharp-toothed grin.

His team had grown much stronger in the last month, and training was the only thing that kept him sane. Arbok had not only gotten stronger, but she had also gotten closer to Cutter, but she tended to keep her distance from the rest of the team. After a while, she even let him ride her, which was certainly an experience for him and her both. It had even been her idea. Cutter was wary at first, but decided that if he truly wanted to bond with her, he would have to be open to what she wanted to do. She had curled up and allowed him to climb on her back, wrapping his arms around the top of her neck, where her head met her hood, and he crouched on his knees on her hood. When they first took off, Cutter's breath was taken away from him. Even with him on her back, she was still incredibly fast. When she slithered with him on her back, she kept her hood flat so that he could remain crouching on it. It was much harder for Cutter than he thought it would be. The way her body twisted and turned as she moved was jarring at first, and it took some getting used to. He had ridden her every day since then, nearly two months ago. It was a good way to work on her speed and endurance, and they both got to have fun with it as well. Oftentimes Cutter had Patriot chase after them whenever they were in the forest, playing a sort of tag game. Patriot would race through the trees, Cutter and Arbok slithered on the forest floor, trying to tag the two of them. Not only was it fun, but it was productive too.

Arbok still, however, didn't want a nickname. She wasn't exactly young anymore, and was comfortable simply being Arbok. She also learned sludge bomb, which was basically just a much stronger acid, and coil, which by coiling her body, she tightened her muscles, therefore making her far faster and stronger in her physical moves. She had finally caught up to the rest of the team in terms of skill.

But while Arbok had finally caught up, it seemed that Rillo was being left behind. She had learned thunderbolt and had been able to expand the size of her electric terrain, but she was still just a Flaaffy. That was fine with him, he just wanted her to be happy, but she was getting frustrated that she couldn't keep up with the rest of the team. According to everything Cutter had read, she should have evolved by now. He tried to comfort her, but words only helped her so much. She appreciated the kindness her trainer exhibited, but she was upset with herself. And it wasn't even that she was weaker than the rest of the team, it was just that she was limited in her current form. He would have to ask Nurse Joy about it next time he went back into Ecruteak. He was worried for her. He had heard about depression in pokemon. It wasn't all that uncommon, and he certainly didn't want any of his pokemon to experience it.

Cutter and Nostradamus were practically one. With no other human interaction in the wild, and the only people in Ecruteak he interacted with were the people who ran the PokeMart and Nurse Joy, he and Nos began talking much, much more. Not only that, but their thoughts and emotions essentially became intertwined. When speaking with Nos, Cutter now switched between thoughts and words, oftentimes not even able to tell a difference.

When they first left Ecruteak, Cutter did have to have a talk with him about not intercepting the headaches. Hesitantly, Nos agreed, but only because Cutter was very adamant about it, and Nos saw how serious his trainer was. Still though, without his trainer knowing, he took some of the pain off of Cutter and put it on himself. Cutter didn't have to know, plus he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't protect his trainer however he could. In terms of skill, his psychic ability had improved dramatically, partially in thanks to how much he and his trainer communicated. With the added psychic skill, he had learned double team and agility, a move Cutter didn't think Nos would need, considering his size and strength. But, it couldn't hurt to have the move under his belt. Plus, Nos was close to having psychic down. On his own, it was taking far longer for Nos to learn than it would with help, but he was still progressing nicely. Another thing Nos learned to do was levitate. For right now, it was small, only about six inches off the ground, but it was levitating nonetheless. Nos had apparently been practicing that all on his own, because when he showed Cutter, he did it with ease. Nos had also grown another eight inches, pushing his height to nearly six and a half feet, nearly a full foot taller than Cutter. Another six inches and he would be a towering seven feet, with more growth to be done.

Patriot was, well, Patriot. He and Cutter had grown closer, but sometimes Patriot just got tired of training, and Cutter knew that would be a problem. Patriot's passion was having fun, and Cutter had learned how to adapt their training sessions so that they would be fun as well. That's why he incorporated the tag game through the forest and a dodgeball game they had begun to incorporate as well. It involved many more soccer balls that Cody had bought, which was more expensive than he would have liked to admit. It was basically the exact same as dodgeball, but with Patriot against everyone else. Patriot won nearly every time though, but considering he was facing a Flaaffy, who had short, stubby arms, a Pupitar and Arbok, neither of whom had arms, and a Girafarig, that was to be expected. Nostradamus managed to stay in the longest, but Patriot was so nimble and knew how to use the soccer ball to his full advantage, he still managed to win. The only time Nos won, and the most recent time, was when he picked up a ball from behind Patriot and pegged him in the back of the head before he realized what was happening. Nos was quite happy with himself with that. Patriot was the only member of the team who hadn't learned any new moves. He had begun working on close combat, but without a fighting type master to teach him, it was hard to learn. Cutter could only do so much, and even as strong as Patriot was, he couldn't do it all on his own. The pokemon using it would release a rush of adrenaline to the body, which boosted the pokemon's attack power to its max for a small period of time, and it removed any and all physical limits the pokemon might have, which included lowering the user's defenses. The more a pokemon trained in this, the longer it would be able to sustain the adrenaline rush. For now, Patriot could just barely begin it. Cutter had never seen Patriot as frustrated as he did when he was working on close combat. It was in those moments that Patriot usually stopped wanting to train and just play instead.

Silver had grown exponentially since evolution, not in size because his shell would not grow during the pupal stage, but in strength and ability. He was hitting harder than ever before, and once he learned how to control the body he was in, which took a while because going from walking on two legs to propelling yourself using pressurized air was hard, he got back on par with the top members of the team. The only one that consistently beat him in a battle now was Patriot, but a type advantage and having at least an extra year of training, that was to be expected. Silver had also completely perfected thrash, was in the process of perfecting rock slide, which was just a more advanced rock throw, and stone edge, which was a bigger, more powerful rock tomb, and he was just starting to get the hang of earthquake. Bulldoze, another ground type move, had come easy, but earthquake was the strongest ground type move of them all, and therefore was harder to learn. But better for Silver to learn it now while he still had that partial ground typing than later when he didn't. Cutter and Silver had also grown closer. Before evolution, Silver had been distant and moody, upset with himself that he hadn't evolved yet, much in the same way Rillo was upset with herself. But now he was almost playful. Almost. He was more serious in nature to begin with, but since evolution, he got along better with everyone, and was always trying to teach and grow with the others, instead of in opposition to them.

xx

Cutter was sitting against a tree while his team was lounging around him. Arbok was curled up in the warm sun and Pupitar was lying close to her. Patriot was lying on his back, balancing his soccer ball on his tail. Rillo was curled up next to Cutter and he absentmindedly stroked her, and Nos was asleep next to her. Today was an off day from training. His team had been working hard. They deserved a day of rest.

They were in a clearing by a lake to the east of Ecruteak, one of the many entrances to Mt. Mortar behind them. He had a slight headache, but nowhere nearly as bad as he knew they could be. He didn't understand why the headaches happened. Wasn't Celebi on his side? If anything, Celebi should be trying to help him feel better.

Cutter pulled out _Legends of Johto_ and opened it to the section about Celebi. Originally he had tried to read it in order, but it was a thick book, and Cutter had never been one for reading, so he just began reading which sections interested him. He toyed with the Silver and Rainbow feathers that he kept in the book, which only seemed right. He wasn't any closer to unlocking their secrets than before, and he was starting to get discouraged.

 _Celebi, or the Time Travel Pokemon, is known as the Guardian of the Forest, or the Voice of the Forest. Celebi resides mainly in Ilex Forest in a small wooden shrine, but whenever she senses a drastic disturbance in any forest across the world or time, she will make her way to it in order to right what wrong is occurring._

 _Celebi is able to exist at all times. What this truly means is not fully known. The abilities of a pokemon and time travelling have not been fully studies, as Celebi is the only pokemon with the ability. It is just known that Celebi is not limited to existing in one place at one time. Celebi also has the ability to heal pokemon and make plant life flourish. It can also purify those with dark hearts, if the one with a dark heart truly wants to be purified. This is another ability of Celebi's that is hard to study, and only the most basic of information is available._

 _Celebi tend to appear in times of joy, and It is said that seeing a Celebi is a sign of peace and hope. This does not mean Celebi will not appear in times of peril as well. Since Celebi is the guardian of the forest, Celebi does not hesitate to appear in dangerous times in order to protect those who need protecting, and help those who deserve help._

Cutter's eyes began to droop and he struggled to keep reading, but it just wasn't working. Rillo asleep next to him, and the sunlight streaming in through the leaves made for the perfect temperature, and soon he was asleep.

xx

Cutter opened his eyes heavily, the sunlight dwindling, and all of his pokemon were standing in a cluster around Arbok and what appeared to be a large blue pokemon. _Oh no, what has she done?_ He stood up, bones and joints stiff from the unnatural sleeping position, and stretched.

 _Father, you're going to want to see this._

"I'm coming Nos," he called out as he walked over. At first he didn't understand what was going on, but as he got closer he realized that the mystery pokemon was a Quagsire, and a big one too. Quagsire, a bipedal blue water and ground type pokemon, were usually about as tall as a middle school child. But this one was as big as tall as he was, and far bulkier. But what was a Quagsire doing here? They were very docile pokemon, unless provoked, so he didn't think he had anything to worry about. Plus, all of his pokemon were too smart to attack a Quagsire as large as this.

Then he saw it. A cluster of eggs, at least ten of them, all a royal purple color, lying on the ground, wrapped up in Arbok's tail. _Nos, what… what's happening?_ Usually Cutter was able to translate his thoughts to Nos very coherently, but too many things were flying through his head.

 _Father… it seems that the Slither has mated._

"Arbok has what?"Cutter fully understood what Nos had said, he just needed the clarification. At the sound of her name, Arbok looked at her trainer and flicked her tongue out with what appeared to be joy, unfurling her hood, which Cutter had recently learned meant she was happy or excited.

 _Mated. With this_ , Nos paused, _Quagsire._

 _I see._ Had the situation been any less stressful, Cutter would have been disgusted thinking about his Arbok engaging in intercourse with a random pokemon. Then again, Cutter was terrified of commitment, so human intercourse scared him too.

There was a pause when no one did anything, until the foreign pokemon spoke up with a cheery gurgle.

Cutter looked up at it, him since Quagsire had mated with his female Arbok, eyes wide. _What am I going to do?_

 _Would you like me to tell you what they're thinking?_

Cutter didn't normally like prying into his pokemon's minds. They were free to think and believe whatever they wanted, but he felt as if this called for it. _Please._

Nos paused before turning back to Cutter. _They know I'm telling you this, so don't feel as if you're prying._ Cutter nodded, now sitting with his fists pressed against his eyes, a bright array of colors dancing in the darkness. _They want to stay together. Arbok, as a species, apparently only mate with one pokemon in their lives. It is like the pokemon form of monogamy._

"You want to stay with Quagsire?" Cutter asked, looking up at Arbok.

Arbok flicked her tongue out with a hiss and gestured with her tail towards Quagsire and then towards Cutter. It took him a moment, but after Arbok repeated the gesture several times, he got it.

"You want Quagsire to come with us?"

Arbok hissed happily, relieved her trainer had figured out what she was trying to say.

"And what about the eggs?"

This time she just sat there, looking down mareepishly at the ground, and Nos took it upon himself to translate. _She would like to keep them, Father._

"You want to keep them?"

Arbok looked up at him and hissed softly, nodding.

Cutter sighed. "Arbok. There is no way that we can take care of all of these Ekans once they hatch. I'm only allowed to carry six pokemon with me at a time. There is no way that I could take care of all of them. It just isn't possible."

 _She wishes for me to translate for her._

"Go ahead." Cutter leaned back on his heels, bracing himself for the worst, convinced that Arbok was going to want to leave him to stay with Quagsire and her babies.

 _She has a surprisingly good idea. She proposes that we keep one of the eggs. The rest can be given away. But she has made it very clear that they must be given away to good trainers._ Cutter glanced over at Arbok, who was watching them intently. _She also is insisting upon the Quagsire joining our team._

Cutter leaned forward onto his knees, turning away from Nostradamus. He sighed, trying to figure out what to do. On one hand, a water type pokemon would be extremely helpful. On the other, he wasn't looking to get another pokemon, let alone two, and certainly not one so soon after Bellow's accident. Plus, raising a baby pokemon, specifically an Ekans, would be no easy task. Arbok was difficult enough to raise, and he could only imagine having a baby one slithering about. Plus, raising Silver from hatching had been hard enough, and he had still been at home with no other pokemon to worry about. Really, though, he didn't have much of a choice. Not if he wanted to keep Arbok on the team. And he did. He had truly come to care for and love Arbok in these last several months and could not imagine the team without her.

"Alright, Arbok. It's a deal," Cutter smiled softly. The things he would do for his pokemon. Arbok hissed happily and flicked her tail with joy.

Quagsire stepped forward until he was face to face with Cutter. He smiled and let out a friendly "Quag!" Cutter couldn't help but smile.

He pulled a spare great ball from out of his backpack and turned to Quagsire. "Do you want to join our team, Quagsire?" Quagsire cocked his head as if he didn't know what Cutter was saying. Cutter sighed, shook his head, and pressed the ball to the Quagsire's forehead, sucking it into the ball. It wiggled once before Quagsire erupted from the ball with a cheery, "Waaa."

Cutter turned to Nos, who in turn replied with, _This is a… simple pokemon, Father. He does not understand much of what you say, if anything. I can try and explain it to him, but his thoughts are far less advanced than mine, and I don't know how much I will be able to convey._

Cutter nodded and after a few seconds Nos thought, _I have done what I can. I believe I he understands._

Cutter pulled out another great ball, grimacing. He only had two great balls left and he didn't want to have to use them all on a Quagsire who just didn't know what he was talking about. "Do you want to join our team?" Cutter asked again. Once again Quagsire cocked his head. Cutter sighed but Quagsire pressed his forehead into the ball and sucked himself in. The ball wriggled once, twice, three times before becoming still in Cutter's hand. He couldn't help but smile. Yet another pokemon captured in an unconventional way. He didn't know how many trainers caught pokemon the way he did. In all the stories he heard from his father, there were battles involved and multiple pokeballs used. Only his Eevee, now an Espeon, joined his team willingly.

But Cutter wouldn't have it any other way. He wasn't even going to try and give Quagsire a nickname. There was no way that a Quagsire as old as this one would remember anything other than the name Quagsire. He smiled as he released Quagsire and read its Pokedex entry. _Quagsire, the Water Fish pokemon. Quagsire are water and ground type. Quagsire are a carefree pokemon made up of 95% water. It hunts for food by opening its mouth wide open and sitting in the water, waiting for its prey to enter its mouth. They reside in freshwater ponds, lakes, and rivers. This Quagsire is a male_ , Cutter figured that, _and has the ability Water Absorb, which prevents it from being hurt by water type moves, instead using them to heal itself. This Quagsire knows the moves Water Gun, Slam, Mud Bomb, Amnesia, Yawn, Earthquake, and Muddy Water._

Cutter nodded. So, he was strong. He figured that, considering how large he was. More than likely it was in charge of the pond where it lived. Now he just had to find out if it listened to orders, and he knew just how to figure that out.

xx

Cutter stepped into the doors of the Ecruteak City Gym, the cool air enveloping him. He was hot and sweaty, and the air-conditioned lobby of the gym was a welcome sight.

He looked around as he cooled off. There was no one. _Creepy_ , he thought. _Then again, this is the ghost type gym. Maybe that's what they're going for._

He shrugged and made his way to the lone black door on the opposite wall. If there was no one there to let him in, he may as well do it himself. He pushed the heavy door open and stepped into the next room. It was dimly lit, and a purple haze swirled in the air, unsettling him even more than he already was. He coughed several times as his lungs adjusted to the thick fog in the room. He tried to look around, but the fog was simply too thick to see more than a few feet in any direction.

"Cutter Robinson," a voice called out from across the room, startling Cutter and making him jump. "I was wondering when you would come in and challenge me. I understand you taking time to grieve over the pain of your pokemon, but I thought it would be much sooner than this."

"I needed time," Cutter called back to the still unseen figure.

"I'm not much for chit-chat, so what do you say we get this battle started? I'm your third badge challenge, correct? That means we will each use three pokemon. You can switch out one time in between battles. I will release the first pokemon."

In the fog, Cutter saw a dim red flash of light before the practical blindness returned. _What am I going to do? I can't see it, how can I fight it?_ Cutter bit his lip before deciding. He tossed out Nos's ball. _We're going to have to work exceptionally hard, Nos. I can't see anything._ His eyes flashed red and he saw everything Nos was seeing, along with everything he was seeing as well.

 _It is a Haunter, Father. I am immune to his ghost moves. Do not worry._ Cutter smiled. He wouldn't. If there was any pokemon he trusted in this situation, it was Nos.

"Begin!" Came a voice from somewhere off to the side. The ref, whoever it was, must be used to refereeing battles in this environment. Normally, Cutter would be worried for the safety of his pokemon, but this was an authorized gym battle. There was no safer way to battle.

 _Use confusion to try and clear the fog._

A few seconds passed before Nos replied. _I cannot. It is enchanted in some way._ Cutter frowned. That would be okay for Nos, but what about his other pokemon? The ones that couldn't sense things with their minds.

"Shadow punch!" Morty called out. Cutter smiled. The fog made it impossible for Morty to see as well. That was one positive, since he didn't know that a normal type was on the other side of the field.

 _Wait until it gets close enough and use zen headbutt._

A bright purple flash lit up the fog just enough for Cutter to see the silhouette of Nostradamus blasting a falling pokemon, one that appeared to be a Haunter, with confusion, before the fog enveloped everything again. He smiled, but he knew that if he saw it, Morty saw it too.

"It's a normal type, use hypnosis!"

 _Get out of there with agility._

Nos blurred away, getting back to Cutter's side, close enough for him to see Nos, but Haunter followed, the hypnosis following as well.

 _Fire your own hypnosis back and then use crunch._

Nos sped off and Cutter could barely make out the pink and purple waves of Nos's hypnosis colliding with Haunter's hypnosis before they were both swallowed by the fog again. Cutter bit his lip. He really didn't like this. He trusted Nos, but not being able to see what was going on was eating him alive.

Then, suddenly, the fog lifted. Nostradamus was trotting triumphantly back to Cab while the fallen Haunter was returned by Morty, a short blond haired man in his forties. He was relatively unassuming, and if Cutter hadn't known he was a gym leader, he probably would have not noticed him, had they passed on the street.

"Excellent work, Mr. Robinson. I usually reserve the fog battles for the seventh and eighth level trainers who come in to challenge me, but I simply couldn't resist with you. I have heard so much about you. And you didn't disappoint. But, Haunter was just a test. Now that I know how you battle, you better get ready." Cutter frowned. _How I battle? But Nos only used like three moves. How could he know how I battle?_

In front of Morty appeared a Misdreavus. The small grey and purple ghost type pokemon floated sporadically around her side of the field, the red orbs around her neck bobbing with her.

"Misdreavus, use shadow sneak!" Cutter frowned, wondering what in the world Morty had planned. Misdreavus disappeared into a nearby shadow, there were plenty in the still-dim lighting of the gym, before popping up behind Nos. She fired a will-o-wisp and then sunk back into the shadows, easily dodging a confusion Nos threw her way, reappearing by her trainer. The cursed fire made contact with Nos, causing him to whinny in pain.

Will-o-wisp could be dangerous. It was an enchanted fire that did slow, constant damage to the pokemon inflicted by it. It could not be put out just by water, and Cutter had no idea how to put it out in any other ways, at least not in the middle of a battle. It seemed they were stuck with it. Nos would just have to take out Misdreavus before it could become a real problem.

 _Nasty plot._

Nos stomped his feet and whinnied, the only sign that Nos was using the move. Nasty plot was all inside the pokemon's head, so there were no physical signs that it was working, unlike moves like bulk-up, which actually gave the pokemon a temporary enlargement of muscles.

 _Get in close and use hypnosis._

Nos ran in, his speed enhanced thanks to the agility. The speed boost didn't matter, though, because as soon as Nos loosed a hypnosis, Misdreavus disappeared into the shadows again, reappearing this time underneath Nos. Misdreavus used what appeared to be a rock type attack that slammed into the unprotected underbelly of Nos, throwing him off balance.

Nos spun as he fell and lashed out with a stomp that went straight through the ghost. It seemed that Nos's concentration was slipping. The normally calm pokemon had begun to panic, and as a result, so had Cutter. Their in tuned nature worked in their favor almost always, but in situations like this, when they were battling a highly skilled trainer that knew how to exploit weaknesses, it seemed more like it was working against them.

 _Normal type moves won't work, Nos. Stay focused._ Cutter told Nos, although he was really telling himself the same thing.

Cutter grit his teeth and wracked his brain. What could he do. The will-o-wisp was slowly draining Nos of his remaining health, and Misdreavus fading in and out of the shadows like that was prohibiting Nos from even getting close to hitting it.

Misdreavus appeared from a shadow right behind Nos and shot him with a psybeam, which Nos didn't even attempt to dodge. Before Misdreavus could slink back into the shadows, Nos used flash, blinding both Cutter and Misdreavus. Rillo had been teaching it to Nos without Cutter knowing, and now it was about to come in very handy. It was a very basic attempt at the move, but it worked as well as it needed to. Cutter was proud. Nos had adapted on his own and taken action, something that would be very important when they began to fight even stronger trainers.

With Misdreavus exposed and unable to run into its shadows, Nos used crunch and held on tight. But Misdreavus wasn't going down without a fight, and at point blank range fired the same rock attack from earlier. That, mixed with the constant damage from the will-o-wisp, was enough to knock Nos out.

Cutter returned him and whispered some encouraging words to his pokemon bound in stasis before placing Nos's back on his belt. As disappointed as Cutter was with Nos fainting, it was okay. The pain from the will-o-wisp had started to take its toll on Cutter as well. Plus, Nos had done extremely well.

He pulled Quagsire's pokeball off of his belt and clutched it, suddenly nervous about this. Quagsire was, more than likely, pretty strong. But he had never used him in a battle before, and he didn't know if a gym battle was the right first testing of Quagsire's strength. Nevertheless, Cutter said a quick prayer to the Helix God asking for protection and guidance and released Quagsire.

"Quagsire, this is a gym battle!" Once again, Quagsire cocked his head, this seemed to be a favorite thing of Quagsire's to do, and gurgled loudly. Cutter clenched his jaw. He had sent out Quagsire, whatever happened now was his own fault. He couldn't blame Quagsire for his stupid decision. Regardless, Quagsire was out now so they had to battle.

"Water gun!"

Apparently as simple as Quagsire was, he understood battle commands fairly well because a jet of water flew from his mouth, and it would have collided head with Misdreavus, had she not feinted out of the way.

"Shadow sneak again!" The effects of flash had faded when Nos had been returned, and that opened up a whole new world of possibilities for Misdreavus once again.

"Be ready with yawn!"

Misdreavus reappeared and the cursed fires of will-o-wisp flew from the red orbs around her neck. Quagsire extinguished them with a water gun, which Misdreavus barely avoided, before opening his mouth widely and yawning, an act which the opposing Misdreavus mimicked, letting Cutter know that yawn had worked.

"Now, muddy water!"

Quagsire slammed the ground with his thick tail and behind him rose a wave of brown water that surged towards both Quagsire and Misdreavus.

"Perish song!" Morty cried out, his voice oddly calm. Misdreavus opened her mouth and began screaming, making Cutter cover his ears to try and muffle the sound.

 _Perish song? What is perish song?_ Cutter knew he had heard it or seen it used before, but he couldn't put his finger on where, and at the moment he had more pressing issues to deal with. Along with the incessant wailing of the perish song, Misdreavus had also used light screen, which blocked most of the water from even hitting it.

"Mud bomb!" From between Quagsire's mouth flew a brown blob of mud that shattered the remnants of Misdreavus's light screen, showering her with mud. She tried to phase through it, but the mysterious ghostly energy she was made up of only allowed her to phase through normal type attacks. Cutter smiled. No longer did he regret using Quagsire. He was a little slow, sure, but he knew what he was doing and he had great battle instincts.

It seemed, however, that this battle was meant to end, because both Quagsire and Misdreavus collapsed. For a second he was confused, but then it hit him. After a certain number of turns, perish song causes all pokemon that hear it to faint.

He returned Quagsire and placed his great ball back on his belt. He bit his lip. Arbok would probably not be much help. Poison type moves weren't very effective against ghost types. Rillo wasn't his best bet either. Gym leaders generally saved their strongest pokemon for last, and Cutter didn't want to bank entirely on Rillo. That left either Patriot or Silver. As strong as Patriot was, he was a fighting type. His strongest moves wouldn't even be able to hit the ghost type pokemon he would be facing.

Cutter released Silver onto the field at the same time Morty released his final pokemon, a Gengar. Cutter should have known. Gengar was Morty's signature pokemon, and even if this wasn't the one he used on his real team, it would still be a challenge to take down.

"Scared of my ghosts yet, Mr. Robinson?" Morty called to Cutter.

"You wish. I ain't afraid of no ghost!" Cutter smiled and felt the ground rumble. Silver was excited as well. After the last gym battle he had lost, Silver felt that he had a lot to prove, and there was no way he was letting his trainer down.

"Shadow ball!"

"Rocky sand!"

As a purple and black ball of ghostly energy formed between Gengar's hands, sand and chunks of rock flowed out in every direction from Silver's cocoon. Whereas earlier Morty had the advantage with the fog on the field, Cutter now had the advantage with the sandstorm.

"Rock tomb!" Cutter couldn't see for sure, but he knew that within the sandstorm, large spires of rock would be popping up, prohibiting Gengar's movement.

"Let your shadow ball go!"

Cutter frowned. Had Gengar been charging up shadow ball that entire time?

The answer was yes, because with a deafening slam that caused Cutter to stumble backwards, a wave of deep purple energy flooded the battlefield, shattering the sandstorm

Cutter looked around nervously as the dust from the sandstorm settled. He saw Silver behind a nearby rock tomb, relatively unharmed, but the battle field was obliterated. The blade of stone that Silver was behind was one of the only ones left standing, and even obviously much smaller than it had been before Gengar loosed the shadow ball. He saw Gengar panting across the field, but it only looked tired. The only damage it had taken were minor cuts from the rocks and sand that previously flew around the battlefield. It could obviously battle longer.

Gengar launched itself up and leapt across the field in a single bound, landing on top of the rock that Silver was hiding behind.

Another shadow ball formed in front of it and it slammed it down onto Silver, who barely had time to launch a rock throw up at it. The rock throw disintegrated and Silver was struck head on by the shadow ball, falling backwards.

With a _thoooom_ from a burst of pressurized air, Silver attempted to regain his balance, but Gengar, giving Silver no time to recover, shot down from the top of the rock tomb and reared its fist back, enveloping it with the same ghostly energy, a shadow punch this time, and swung down.

Silver was ready though, and without waiting for his trainer's instruction, used crunch on Gengar's fist at exactly the right moment. It broke through the shadow punch and Gengar tried to fly away, but Silver was manipulating the excess sand from the sandstorm as a makeshift anchor, holding both of them to the floor of the battle plot.

"Shadow punch other side!" This time, Morty sounded slightly more panicked.

Gengar came at Silver with his other fist, also enveloped in the ghostly energy, but tendrils of compact sand had crept up and around Gengar's legs and other arm, hindering the ghost type's movement completely.

"Now Silver, use sand attack."

With a twitch of his head, Silver sent a spatter of sand into Gengar's eyes, blinding him. With another flick of his head, all of the sand fell, but as soon as Gengar tried to launch himself away, Silver used rock tomb, slamming into Gengar from behind

When Gengar landed, he did not get back up.

" _THOOOOM,_ " Silver rumbled as he released a burst of air and made his way back to his trainer.

Cutter gulped. He won. He smiled as he ran out to Silver, leaning down to hug him. "Great job, Silver. You did it. You were so good."

Morty walked over. "Good job. You deserve this badge." Morty handed the Fog Badge to Cutter, who pocketed it. He would put it in his case later.

"Thank you, Morty." Cutter paused, unsure how to go about this. "I have some questions."

"I'm sure you do," Morty answered, cutting him off. "But they are your questions to figure out the answers to on your own. The Kimono Girls told you far more than I would have liked. You have a long way to go, and you must do it on your own." He paused and then grinned. "Well, maybe not entirely on your own. You do have your pokemon." And then he turned and walked away.

xx

Cutter stepped into the back of the Pokemon Center where Bellow was being treated. As soon as he had stepped outside of the Ecruteak Gym, he had gotten a call from Nurse Joy, saying that he should get to the Pokemon Center as soon as possible. Even with the recent win and the heat from the sun, his heart dropped and he got chills. He feared for the worst.

It turned out that there was no need. Bellow was walking with her back to him in the therapy room when he got there. Tears immediately came to his eyes, and he wiped them away before she could see them. With the help of an attendant that was assisting her, she turned and saw him. He walked to her and, with as much restraint as possible, hugged her. She returned the gesture softly, and when he pulled away, he saw the bald patch on her stomach the wooden spike had gone through. Tears came to his eyes again, and he returned to the hug, the tears wiping away onto Bellow's thick fur coat.

xx

That night, with Nurse Joy's permission, Cutter and his team had dinner in Bellow's room. He brought her favorite foods and introduced her to Quagsire. She seemed happy to meet him, but he could tell that she missed being on the team. He and Nos, Quagisre, and Silver took turns telling Bellow of their gym win. Well, Quagsire gurgled happily every now and then while Cutter, Nos, and Silver told the story.

After dinner, when Bellow was asleep and Cutter was checking out a room at the Pokemon Center from Nurse Joy, he pulled out one of his storage balls. He released Arbok as well and explained the situation to Nurse Joy as he pulled the eggs out of the storage ball where they had been kept safely.

"I would be happy to find these eggs a home. Trainers often want poison types that they can raise from hatching. Poison types have a reputation of being hard to handle if you catch them when they're older," Cutter grinned slyly at Arbok who ducked her head and shot out her tongue in shame, "but if trainers can get a baby poison type, they believe it makes the process of raising them much easier."

"Arbok, which one would you like to keep?" Cutter didn't think it would matter, and he didn't know if she would even be able to tell them apart. They were the same purple color after all, but Arbok apparently could tell them apart because she pointed with her tail to the one in the very middle. Upon closer inspection, that one was a little different from the rest. It was more of a grayish purple than a royal purple. Cutter pulled that one out, making sure the rest of them were steady, and handed it to Arbok.

"Will I need to purchase an incubator?" Cutter asked Nurse Joy.

"No! Arbok have special pouches that they keep their eggs in. It is safer, warmer, and better for the baby Ekans to be kept in that pouch. You won't want to let Arbok battle for a few days, though. After all, she did just give birth." Cutter smiled. _Good thing I didn't have her battle in the gym battle today then._

"Thank you, Nurse Joy!"

xx

Cutter slipped into his bed. For the first time in two months, the entire team was sleeping out in the room. Well, Quagsire was in the bathtub, but everyone else was in the room. They were happy to be back in the town. They all desperately needed to be cleaned, and Rillo needed to be charged. Plus a good warm meal brightened everyone's spirits.

Quagsire seemed to get along well with everyone on the team, especially Arbok, for obvious reasons. But even Silver, who normally was so reserved around the more boisterous members of the team, liked Quagsire. Quagsire, unlike Patriot, was calm with his playfulness. Cutter had high hopes that Quagsire would be like a bridge between the rest of the team and Arbok. She was an excellent pokemon, and he really wanted the rest of the team to see it, too.

Cutter smiled as he fell asleep, his arm hanging off the edge of the bed, just barely brushing the top of Silver's cocoon. Silver responded with a soft rumble and settled into his Master's hand, happy to have Cutter back. Don't get him wrong, he had enjoyed all the training and battling they had done recently, but it would be nice to have the whole team sleeping out again. Even if he didn't always get along with all of them, they were a team, after all, and nothing would change that.

xx

 **Hey! Sorry for such a long time between updates. I've been super busy, but now that summer has officially begun (whoo hoo!), I have lots more time to write! Let me know what you think of this chapter with a review or a PM, and if you liked it, follow and favorite the story! Thanks for being such awesome readers!**


	14. Mineral

It had been three weeks since Cutter had beaten Morty, so Arbok was officially allowed to train again. Her body had recovered from the egg laying process, and he was excited to get started with her.

The whole team had spent the morning doing some light sparring and warming up, but Cutter was ready to do some one on one training with Arbok. He had done some research and really wanted her to learn both toxic and venoshock.

Toxic was a move that badly poisoned the opponent, and the longer that the pokemon was in the battle, the worse the poison got. It was extremely effective against bulky pokemon that were typically more immune to weaker poisons.

Venoshock was another poison type move, but it was special in the fact that when the opponent was poisoned, the power of venoshock was doubled. He didn't really know how it worked, other than the fact that when it mixed with the poisoned opponent, it eliminated antibodies at double its normal speed. Cutter didn't fully understand it, but it was going to be a helluva battle tactic, if he could get Arbok to learn it.

They started with Toxic, but when Cutter got a phone call, he left her alone to work on it while he answered. It was Wylie.

xx

Cutter sighed as he hung up his cell phone. He had been given his first official League assignment. There was a small dairy farm in between Ecruteak and Olivine and several Miltank had been found dead in the pastures of the farm, Wylie had informed him.

Normally, The League would assume it was a rogue pokemon doing this, but the Miltank had been left killed and left. They hadn't been eaten at all, which is the telltale sign of a pokemon hunting. No, this was worse, Wylie told him.

Miltank were exceptionally strong pokemon. They held their own extremely well in battle, not to mention how fast they were. A Miltank named Bess wasn't the backbone of Elite Four member Whitney Long's team for nothing. Even though these Miltank hadn't been trained for battle, that didn't get rid of their natural strength. But the bodies of the Miltank apparently showed no sign of a struggle. The League had no idea what was going on, and it was on Cutter's shoulders to figure it out.

He checked the map application on his phone. The farm was only a two hour walk, but he knew he could get there faster.

Just a few minutes later and Cutter was finishing buckling the saddle onto Arbok's hood. He loved riding on Arbok, but there was simply no good way to do it bareback, or barehood. So, he had spent several hours online shopping, searching for an Arbok saddle. They were rare. Not many people rode Arbok, but he finally found one. When he saw the price, however, he nearly fainted. After a few minutes of going back and forth on whether or not to buy it, he remembered the money that The League was sending him each month, and he decided it was okay to splurge a little.

He climbed onto the saddle and nestled his knees into the stirrups on the side and grabbed the rope handle at the front and they took off.

xx

Forty-five minutes later Cutter dismounted Arbok and walked up, Arbok slithering behind, to the front door of what he assumed to be the home of Farmer Louie. He wrapped his knuckles against the wood of the door and stepped back off of the porch. He stroked under Arbok's chin absentmindedly as he waited, eliciting a pleased hiss and flick of her tongue as she enjoyed the affection.

A few moments later a large homely woman with deeply tanned skin opened the door and greeted Cutter with a soft smile. "What can I do you for?" she asked, her voice soft and pleasant.

"I'm Cutter Robinson. The League sent me to check on your Miltank situation."

Her smile disappeared and she stepped outside, closing the door behind her. "I'll take you to Louie. He's in the barn out back." She stepped ahead and Cutter followed. "But please return your Arbok. I don't want the livestock to be frightened. They don't take too kindly to reptiles."

Cutter obliged, nodding a silent apology to Arbok before returning her, the saddle landing on the ground where she had just been. Cutter pulled a storage ball out of his backpack and hurriedly forced the saddle in. It wasn't as neat as Cutter would have liked it, but he didn't want to keep Janet, as she had introduced herself, waiting.

The barn was nothing like what Cutter was expecting, which was large and red with huge sliding doors and white trim. No, this barn was large and open, without a single wall. Wood beams supported the low roof. On one side of the barn were huge bales of hay, the middle was cluttered with various tools, and the other side was pens full of livestock. Cutter saw Miltank, Tauros, Ponyta and Rapidash, and one huge brown pokemon that slightly resembled Ponyta that Cutter didn't recognize. Cutter counted five empty pens, and standing in one was Louie. If Janet was large, then Louie was a giant. He was at least six and a half feet tall and three hundred pounds. Cutter barely came up to his shoulders.

"I'll leave you two to it then," Janet said after she led Cutter to the pen Louie was in. Cutter thanked her and turned back to Louie.

"I'm Cutter Robinson. The League sent me to help figure out what's going on here." Cutter kept his voice steady, but on the inside he was nervous as could be. His heart was beating out of control and as he reached out to shake Louie's hand, he hoped the large farmer didn't notice his clammy, shaking hands. If Louie did, he didn't say anything about it.

"So I'll bring ya up to speed real quick," Louie boomed, his voice matching his large frame. "I've found five Miltank killed here on my property in the last five days. One a day." He pulled several photographs out of his pocket and handed them to Cutter, who had to resist the urge to throw up as he flipped through them. He had never been one for gore or torture, and these Miltank weren't doing anything to help him. "I'll spare ya the details, but I'm sure you get the idea from them pictures. My Miltank have been tortured, then kilt. One a night, every night for the last five nights. I thought that by keepin' em in their pens at night 'stead of lettin' em roam the pasture would keep em safe, but it didn't."

"When did you start keeping them in their pens at night?" Cutter asked as he pulled up the Notes application on his phone.

"Last night was the first night," Louie replied, taking the photographs back from Cutter.

"And was there anyone keeping watch?"

"Of course," the farmer sneered at Cutter as if he were being insulted by the mere thought of him not having watchmen, or watchpokemon. "My Arcanine, Noctowl, and Furrett keep watch every night, along with Gordon, my hired help. But each mornin' these last five mornin's, when I been comin' out for mornin' feedin', they're all asleep. Put out with a hypnosis or some sleep causin' move. Only thing that'll wake em up is my Janet's Pidgeotto usin' screech."

"And Gordon can never remember anything?" Cutter asked.

"Nope."

"Cutter frowned. He wanted to talk to Gordon, but according to Louie, the boy wouldn't get here until sunset, and Louie had no way of getting in contact with him during the day. Louie was rarely home during the day.

"Is there anyone who might have any reason to do this? Any grudge against you or Janet or your farm?"

Louie put some chewing tobacco into his mouth as he thought. "Nope. Not that I can think of off the top of my head."

"And Gordon? What about him?"

"No, Gordon's purty well liked."

"I meant, would there be any reason Gordon would do this?"

Louie got red in the face, sputtering and spitting tobacco everywhere as he fumed. "Gordon is not responsible for this. When his dad died, I took him in. I treated him like he was one of my own children. Gordon owes everything to me. He wouldn't do this. Don't you ever insult Gordon like that again." By the end Louie was yelling, and Cutter didn't know the last time he had been this frightened. He gulped and nodded, feeling as if he were already screwing up his first assignment. "I'm sorry," Louie sighed. "Gordon is like a son to me. I love him like he's my own. I didn't mean to get all big and mean," Louie chuckled, and Cutter laughed softly too, just thankful Louie wasn't angry anymore.

"Do you mind if I ask how Gordon's father passed?"

"Passed?" Louie laughed. "He didn't pass. He was killed. And before you get any crazy ideas, the man who killed him died in prison about five years ago," Louie informed him, correctly anticipating Cutter's next question. He really wanted to ask more about Gordon, but didn't want to risk another negative reaction on Louie's end.

xx

Cutter spent the early afternoon walking around the barn and pastures, all of his pokemon out and about as well. Nos was at the pens trying to talk to the various Miltank, but even all the way out in the pasture, Cutter could feel that Nos was having no luck.

 _Father, it is like they remember nothing. I am trying to dig into their minds, but they have nothing helpful. These are intelligent creatures. This does not make sense._

 _Just do your best, Nos. That's all I can ask._

Patriot was playing with Louie's Furrett, Dort, and Arbok was napping in the sun in front of the house, her egg nestled in the crook of her tail. Quagsire was swimming in the pond behind the barn, and both Rillo and Silver were with Cutter.

After Cutter felt he had looked around enough, he decided to go swim with Quagsire. The sun was still high in the sky and the Johto heat was both inescapable and unbearable. Plus, Cutter hadn't gotten a lot of chances to bond with Quagsire since his capture, and he figured there was no better place to bond with a water pokemon than in the water itself.

Cutter loved swimming, and he loved the water. Every summer he and his family went to Tohjo Falls for several weeks, and when he was back home in Cherrygrove Town, he made the short trek to a local pond multiple times a week when the weather was warm enough. It was a wonder he only had one water-type pokemon on his team.

Cutter took off his shirt, shoes, and socks, and jumped into the water, hollering, causing the Miltank to look up in mild annoyance. Quagsire gurgled with joy from across the pond and ducked under the water, popping up next to Cutter almost immediately. If Cutter had any pokemon that knew how to play, it was Quagsire. He thought Quagsire might be even more playful than Patriot, and that was saying something, considering how playful the Teamwork pokemon was.

Even in battles, Quagsire liked to have fun. He _loved_ to play with his opponents. Oftentimes Cutter had to remind Quagsire that they were in a battle. That being said, Quagsire was strong, if a little under trained. He wasn't as strong as Patriot, but once Cutter started working with him, he started consistently beating everyone on the team, with the exception of Nos and Patriot.

Quagsire's instincts were excellent, which was good because Quagsire was, well, dumb. Simple might be a better word. He wasn't like many bug pokemon who only understood battling and were always angry. It was just that things didn't always quite click for Quagsire. More than once, Nos had to explain things to Quagsire in order for him to understand. That wasn't to say Cutter didn't care for him, because he did. Quagsire was part of the team, and each of his team members had their own personality, and it just so happened that Quagsire's was fun and dumb. Cutter wouldn't have it any other way.

They spent the rest of the afternoon having a grand time. Quagsire would throw Cutter up in the air, then suspend him there with a low-pressure water gun, until Quagsire decided it was time for him to come down. They played Marco Polo and had races, both of which Quagsire always won. His ability in the water was incredible. Cutter never lasted more than five seconds in Marco Polo, and by the time he was making his first stroke, Quagsire had already reached the other side of the pond, except for one time. But that was just because Quagsire had gotten curious as to why Cutter was so slow, so he floated alongside Cutter for most of the way, watching him with a cocked head.

xx

After several hours of play, Janet called them in. He got a warm shower and a home-cooked meal, his team got high grade pokefood that Louie fed to his pokemon, and by the time the sun was setting Cutter had almost forgotten the grim reason he had come there that day.

Just as Cutter was getting up from the table to wash his hands, a young man, probably only a year or two older than Cutter himself, walked in. He was tall and muscular, just like Louie, with a head of thick black hair. He was handsome, in a big, brutish way. "Cutter, this is Gordon. Gordon, Cutter," Louie boomed, his voice just as loud inside as it was outside.

"Nice to meet you, Gordon," Cutter smiled. Gordon just nodded, keeping his eyes to the floor.

"Cutter's from The League. He's going to help us figure out what's going on with the Miltank," Louie told Gordon, his hand resting on Gordon's shoulder. Gordon's eyes flashed up at Cutter then back down to the floor. _How could a kid this shy guard anything?_ Cutter wondered.

"Well, I'll show you two outside," Louie said.

They got situated outside the barn in front of the pens and Louie went back inside. Since their friend in common was gone, it was silent, except for the pokemon that were patrolling the area. Silver and Rillo were with him again, Nostradamus and Quagsire were on the opposite side of the pens, Patriot was on top of the barn, and Arbok was roaming the pastures since she didn't want to scare the Miltank. But if anything bad were to happen, all Cutter, or Nos, had to do was call for her and she would be there in a second. Her saddle was on as well, just in case Cutter had to ride her to chase down their culprit.

Arcanine was napping next to Gordon, Dort was burrowed in the hay, and Noctowl was perched on a beam above the Miltank. Gordon's pokemon, which included a mean looking Meganium, a small Kadabra, and a Magneton, were lounging behind them.

xx

It was just past midnight and Cutter felt himself starting to doze. All of the pokemon seemed on high alert, so Cutter figured he could catch a few z's, just for a minute.

 _Father. Be wary._

Cutter's eyes shot open in alarm. _What is it Nos?_

 _I had to wait until the Kadabra went away, but the human, the large one, is responsible. He is-._ Cutter felt his eyes droop as Nos's voice disappeared from his mind. He sat up, suddenly completely awake.

"Nos?" he whispered? "Nos, what happened?"  
"I don't think your little Girafarig is going to be able to help you, League Boy," came a deep voice from behind Cutter.

"Gordon?"

"Don't move," commanded the voice as Cutter attempted to swivel in his chair. Despite all his efforts earlier in the night, he still had not heard Gordon speak, so he didn't know if the voice belonged to him.

"Gordon, what's going on?"

"Shut up or I'll put you to sleep like the rest of the pokemon."

"Wha-," started Cutter, before closing his mouth. The last thing he wanted was to be put to sleep. He needed to stay awake so that he could figure out what was happening, and stop it.

"That's right. All your pokemon are asleep right now, so it's just you and me and my pokemon." Gordon came into view, along with his Kadabra. _So it was Gordon._ "Your pokemon are weak. Is the rest of The League as useless as you are? Whatever, League Boy. It's time for you to sleep with them, then when you wake, your memory will be gone and you won't remember any of this." Gordon smiled and the last thing Cutter saw was a bright pink and purple wave of psy energy come from the spoon of Kadabra. Then he was asleep.

xx

Cutter felt something warm and scratchy against his cheek. "Not now, mom," he muttered, pulling away.

 _Sssssaaaaa_

Cutter sat up, in front of him was Arbok, not his mother, and his hands were tied behind his back. "Arbok, what happened?" Arbok's tail shot up in front of Cutter's mouth, silencing him. She then gestured toward the back of the barn with her tail, then up towards the roof. Cutter struggled to turn, and as he did so, he heard the pained whine of a pokemon. He looked up and there was Patriot, sitting silently.

Then it all came back to him. Gordon. The Kadabra put him to sleep. But how had Patriot and Arbok woken up? "Ahh," breathed Cutter. Arbok was in the front pasture and Patriot was on the roof already when Gordon came out. Gordon never saw either of them, so he thought it was just Cutter and his four other pokemon. He had no idea about Arbok or Patriot.

Cutter bit his lip, trying to think. His head was spinning from the effects of hypnosis, and the gravity of the situation didn't help things either. _The sound has to be a Miltank. What do I do? I can't just barge in there. His Kadabra is super effective against both Patriot and Arbok. But Patriot is way stronger than any of his pokemon, I bet. And if Patriot can take the Kadabra and the Magneton, Arbok can take the Meganium, who is watching over the sleeping pokemon._

Cutter beckoned Patriot down and he told the two pokemon his plan. Before they set off, Arbok set her egg in the chair Cutter had been sitting in to keep it away from the fight, then slithered away. Patriot, at Cutter's request, untied his wrists, then leapt back onto the beams and made his way silently toward Gordon and the Magneton and Kadabra.

Now it was Cutter's turn. He needed to make some noise to get Gordon away from the Miltank. Cutter looked around, desperately, but he didn't have to look for long. It was a barn so there were plenty of loud, metal tools that he could use to make a racket.

Cutter picked up a shovel and banged it against a tin bucket. He didn't stop there, though. He started throwing everything he could find, from rakes to buckets, trying to get Gordon to come to him.

It didn't take long before the big brute reached Cutter, and he looked angry. But, he didn't have his Kadabra with him. Cutter could only hope that Patriot could take care of it. He pushed Patriot from his mind. He had his own problems to worry about.

Before he could pick up any kind of weapon, Gordon landed a solid punch to Cutter's stomach, making him drop to his knees and wheeze, searching for breath. Cutter expected some kind of speech from Gordon, but Gordon wasn't the talkative type, so he just kicked Cutter with heavy combat booted feet, causing him to fly back. He landed on his left arm and Cutter felt something warm trickle down his face, but he was barely conscious enough to tell. The pain in his arm and face pulled his thoughts from the blood spewing down his nose.

He felt himself being picked up by his shirt collar, and before he knew it, Gordon threw him toward the front of the barn, where Cutter slammed into the ground next to his chair. He tried to push himself up, but he landed hard on the same arm and it wasn't doing what he told it to. In fact, he could barely feel his arm at all.

Cutter looked up and Gordon was there, but his attention wasn't on Cutter. It was on Cutter's chair. He leaned down and grabbed whatever was in the chair, hiding it from Cutter's view. _What is he holding?_ Then it hit him. Arbok's egg. He couldn't let this guy hurt Arbok's egg.

"Arbok!" Cutter screamed, spraying blood onto the dirt in front of him. He looked over to where Arbok was, but she was busy battling the Meganium. He looked to Patriot, and he had dispatched the Magneton, but was in a stalemate with the Kadabra. He was alone. A surge of adrenaline hit Cutter and he forced himself up, but Gordon turned and, with the hand not holding the egg, punched Cutter square in the jaw, causing his vision to go blurry and his jaw to ache.

Gordon put his heavy booted foot on Cutter's chest and a shovel to his throat, wagging a finger on his free hand at Cutter as if he were a small child. "No, sir. You woke up and had two other pokemon you didn't tell me about? That is… that is unacceptable."

"Why are you doing this?" Cutter choked out, blood dribbling down his chin.

"Honestly, it's because it's fun and because I can. Who's going to stop me? You? In the morning, you won't remember any of this. I'll be the hero that saved you from your attacker." Gordon smirked. There was nothing Cutter could do. "But this egg? No point in bringing it into this cruel world, is there?"

"What?" Cutter asked as Gordon raised his arm before slamming it down, the egg cracking against the hard dirt ground right next to Cutter's head. "Hm," Gordon murmured. "It didn't crack all the way." Gordon took the shovel from Cutter's throat and shoved it down onto the egg. Eggshell and the juices of the egg splattered against Cutter's face, and he looked over in horror to see a small, semi-formed Ekans slide out of the broken eggshell. It wasn't ready to come out of its egg yet, and it certainly shouldn't have come out like this. It should have hatched naturally, and for the second time that day, Cutter fought the urge to vomit. He couldn't throw up here. Not on his Arbok's child. He couldn't do that to her.

"Arbok!" Cutter screamed, his voice breaking and catching in his throat.

Gordon just laughed as he wiped the wet shovel on Cutter's shirt. "I need to clean the juices off before I knock you out with it, don't I," Gordon smiled. Cutter had never been more angry in his life. Gordon didn't get the chance to hit Cutter again, though. Arbok, apparently having taken care of the Meganium, appeared in Cutter's field of vision. She unfurled her hood and swayed. Gordon, caught in the trance of Arbok's mask, swayed with her. Once Arbok was sure she had him totally hypnotized, she lunged at Gordon, sinking her fangs into his neck. He let out a small, high-pitched yelp that would have been funny in another context, then collapsed onto the ground next to Cutter. As Cutter passed out, he saw Arbok rear back and strike Gordon again, this time in the back. Then all went dark.

xx

Cutter awoke in yet another hospital room. His left arm was in a sling and his eyesight was blurry. His head hurt something fierce, and the rest of his body was completely sore. He tried to sit up, but his chest ached, so he just cried out softly.

"Whoa, take it easy there," came a familiar voice from his left. He turned his neck and a tall figure came into view. It took his eyes a second to focus, but once they did, he realized it was Wylie. He smiled, or, he tried to at least. It looked more like a grimace to Wylie, but he let it slide. Cutter had lost two front teeth, after all.

"What happened?" Cutter asked as Wylie helped him sit up.

"I've been talking to your Girafarig, who got his information from your Passimian. I need to hear it from you, though."

"Are my pokemon okay?" Cutter asked, trying to sit up too fast and letting out a groan.

"Your pokemon are fine," Wylie said, holding the hand of his non-hurt arm.

"The egg?" Cutter asked, his voice trembling.

"Egg?" Wylie asked, confused. "I haven't heard anything about any egg."

Cutter couldn't help it. He was crying. He tried to speak several times, but couldn't get anything out, so Wylie just rubbed his back and sat with him. When Cutter was able to talk, Wylie let him. Cutter recounted the whole story, from the moment he got to Louie's farm, to the last thing he remembered, which was Arbok attacking Gordon.

He had to pause several times to breathe and stop himself from crying, although that was only half successful. When he got to the end, he looked at Wylie and said, "What's going to happen to my Arbok?"

Wylie sat there for a second before answering. "You are a League trainee, which means that officially you are a member of The League. Your Arbok was protecting you. She saved your life. None of your pokemon have been trained in how to incapacitate criminals without killing them, and your Arbok, a historically aggressive pokemon, certainly was no exception. She did what she felt she had to do." He paused. "And I'm sure that she realized what happened to her egg. Mothers have that sort of intuition, you know? I talked to Reed already and he talked to your Girafarig. Your Arbok is okay. She's not going to be put down or anything."

Cutter let that sink in. "Arbok… killed him?"

"Yeah, she did. But she was protecting you. You have to keep that in mind. This wasn't mindless killing. She killed a mindless killer."

Wylie kept rubbing Cutter's back, but those words comforted him. His Arbok was going to be okay.

"And why did Gordon do this?" Cutter asked, still unable to wrap his head around what had happened both the night before and to the Miltank previously.

"We'll never know for sure," Wylie sighed, "but a few psychiatrists and behavior analysts we consulted said that it was probably because of the man that killed his father. Someone inflicted that pain on him, that pain of loss, so he wanted to inflict it on others."

"But Louie treated him so well," Cutter shook his head.

"I know, Cutter. I know."

The door opened and in walked a doctor with a clipboard, followed by Champion Reed.

The doctor busied himself checking Cutter's vitals, but Champion Reed just stared at Cutter and Wylie for a moment before clearing his throat and saying, "you were brave out there, Robinson. We had no idea that this would be such a dangerous first mission for you, and your bravery is greatly appreciated."

"So I'm not losing my position as a League Trainee?" Cutter asked.

The Champion stared at him, apparently dumbfounded before laughing heartily. "Lose your position? You showed immense bravery and dedication, Robinson. Why would we strip you of that? Your first mission was hard. You saw how tough being in the League truly is. If anything, we were expecting to have to convince you to stay."

Cutter felt a huge weight lift off of his chest and he chuckled slightly, but it hurt his chest, so he stopped. "I will need the story from you, though. I got the gist of gist of it from your Girafarig, but I need it from the source. He was asleep for most of it, anyway." The Champion paused. "And we will do it like last time."

The Champion released Moo, his Musharna, and before Cutter knew it, he was both asleep and back awake again.

"Thank you," said Champion Reed, returning Moo.

"What happened after I woke up?" Cutter asked, realizing for the first time that he didn't know how the night concluded.

"Well," began the Champion, "you passed out shortly after your Arbok attacked the criminal. He died almost immediately, and the police got there shortly after that. Apparently all of the commotion woke the owners of the farm, and they called the police. We got there shortly after that, along with the paramedics. They brought you here, to Olivine, and your pokemon are on the floor below us being treated, along with the Miltank from last night. She will make it, it looks like."

Cutter smiled. At least there was some good news. All of the pokemon were okay. _Except for the Ekans egg._ The thought hit him out of nowhere and made his stomach ache and head swim.

"Louie and Janet wish you their biggest thanks and apologies. They wanted to give them to you in person, but they needed to take care of the damage on the farm, so I promised to give them to you for them," Champion Reed said. "And you will be compensated for this, don't you worry. I just need to find the right form of compensation. You deserve a little more than money."

Cutter nodded and thanked him before the doctor ushered both the Champion and Wylie out. "I'll be waiting out here," Wylie said as he was shooed out the door. Cutter drifted off into a dreamless sleep as the doctor inserted some fluid into his IV.

xx

After a week, Cutter was discharged from the hospital. Thanks to advanced medical techniques, his broken arm had healed in just five days, and his concussion had gone away in just seven.

Wylie had stayed with him for the first two days, but after that had to get back to the gym. He had even forgiven Cutter for ignoring his calls and texts for those two months because of what happened at the farm, but only after kissing Cutter on the forehead, causing Cutter to blush horribly.

Cutter didn't see Champion Reed again. Apparently, the Champion had "important League business to attend to." Cutter didn't mind. The Champion still scared him.

Cutter had to have a difficult talk with Arbok that week, too. She knew what happened to her egg, but Cutter still felt the need to address both that and her attack on Gordon. Arbok was naturally reserved and sullen, but after the incident in the barn, she kept to herself even more. She stayed away from the rest of the pokemon, especially Quagsire. No matter what he did to get close to her, she slithered away, keeping her distance. Apparently he reminded her too much of their egg. Cutter was the only one she would let near her, and for that he was grateful. He didn't want her pulling away from the team completely. He knew she would need to get involved with the team again at some point, but he didn't want to force it.

The Olivine air was warm, and Cutter was happy to be out of the hospital. He texted Wylie, letting him know that he was released, and then his parents, telling them he had made it to Olivine. They didn't know about the incident at the farm, and he didn't plan on them finding out anytime soon, either.

He looked up at the blue sky, then across the street to where the gym stood. Jasmine was waiting, but he still had some training to do. He and his team had been out of commission for a full week, and Jasmine was notoriously difficult to beat. He didn't want a repeat of what happened against Wylie. He was going to do his research and take his time. Jasmine wasn't going to know what hit her.

xx

Cutter stepped into the air-conditioned lobby of the gym and was greeted by a young man at reception. "Are you here to challenge Jasmine?"

"Yes," Cutter nodded, stepping up to the desk and handing the receptionist his Pokedex.

The man punched a few things into the keyboard then nodded, handing Cutter back his Pokedex. If you'll go through the double doors to my left, your right, Jasmine will be waiting. Good luck!"

Cutter thanked him and went through the doors. This was the first gym battle that Cutter had felt truly confident about and prepared for. He had spent five days researching Jasmine and her team, along with training his own pokemon based on her. He wasn't going in blindly like he had with Wylie.

In fourth level gym battles, it was a four versus four battle, and Cutter knew exactly which four he needed to use. He went back and forth between Silver and Rillo. Silver was both weak to and had an advantage over steel types. His rock typing was weak but his ground typing was strong. Rillo had a resistance against steel types, but she was considerably weaker than Silver, simply because she hadn't evolved yet.

Cutter didn't know why she hadn't evolved yet. He knew that different pokemon of the same species evolved at different times, but it usually wasn't as drastic a difference. He talked to Nurse Joy about it, and she didn't seem to know either. She told him that Rillo should have evolved already. She suggested talking to Professor Elm. Cutter thanked her, remembering that Professor Elm had been doing research on evolution when he was at Elm's lab. Maybe the Professor would know what was going on.

Cutter eventually decided on Rillo. There was one pokemon Cutter was almost positive Jasmine would use, and Rillo was the only pokemon that would have an advantage over it.

Arbok was also out of the question. With steel types having an invulnerability to poison, and the rest of her moves they had a resistance to, she just wouldn't be helpful. She had also been showing signs of anxiety over the last week. Her training just wasn't at the level that it used to be, and she always slept in her pokeball. Cutter was going to take her in to get a checkup after his gym battle. He suffered from anxiety himself and he knew how badly it could affect you. The last thing he wanted was for one of his pokemon to suffer from that as well.

"Hello, Mr. Robinson. I am Jasmine." Cutter looked across the field, and standing in the opposite trainer's box was the most beautiful woman Cutter had ever seen in his life. Even though she was his mom's age, he couldn't help but be incredibly attracted to her. She was wearing a white sundress that came down to just above her knees, and her golden blond hair cascaded down over her shoulders, and a frilly white sun hat sat on top of her head.

Cutter grit his teeth and forced away the attraction. This was a gym battle. One he had prepared for intensely, and he couldn't let any sort of distractions in the way. "Hello Jasmine," Cutter managed to choke out. He balled his fists, trying to get out some of the pre-battle nerves, and noticed how clammy his hands were. He hurriedly rubbed them on his shorts.

"I am so excited to battle you. I've heard much about you," she giggled. _God, she's beautiful._

"From who?" Cutter asked, curious.

"Well, Whitney and I are close friends, and it seems as if you and her son are close as well. He talks to his mother about you often, and she mentions you to me. Especially as of late, with your heroics on the farm with the Miltank." Cutter blushed, but if Jasmine noticed, she didn't let on. "I am so thankful to you for that. Unfortunately, that area is _just_ outside of my jurisdiction, and Morty was out of town on business. Luckily you were in the area. I am very grateful."

"It was my honor, ma'am," Cutter smiled, blushing further.

"Oh, please don't call me ma'am. I don't like to believe I'm getting old." She giggled. "Anyway, you're here for a battle, are you not?" Cutter nodded, a grin forming on his lips. He was ready. "This will be a four on four battle. I will send out a pokemon first. You are allowed one switch, in between battles. I am allowed none. The winner will be declared when either side has no more pokemon left to battle." She paused. "Well, are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Cutter shouted, grinning. He had never been more ready.

"Jasmine, release your first pokemon!" The referee called. Jasmine readied her pokeball and tossed it out, releasing a Magnemite. It hovered above the rocky field, ready to battle. It was a small pokemon, but Cutter knew better than to underestimate it. He had watched many of Jasmine's battles, and in fourth level and under, she always used Magnemite, and it almost always won.

 _Nostradamus has the fewest advantages over steel type pokemon, and Magnemite will probably be Jasmine's weakest. I should start with him._ Cutter released Nostradamus onto the field, and the referee called out, "Begin!"

Jasmine wasted no time, yelling out, "thunder wave!" A weak electric pulse shot out from between Magnemite's magnets.

"Divert it with confusion and use double team!" Nos stopped the thunder wave with his own weak psychic move, then split into four copies of himself, the real one undetectable to the naked eye. But Jasmine just laughed.

"Magnemite is an electric type and can feel which pokemon is real using the electrons in the real pokemon's body." Cutter gulped as the real Nos was zapped with a thunderbolt, his pokemon whinnying with pain.

"Nasty plot!" Nos stood completely still focusing his power into his head. It would build the power of his special based moves, and Cutter felt that it was going to be important for Nos to keep his distance.

Jasmine had other ideas, however. "Get in close and use spark!"

Magnemite was surprisingly fast and its body crackled with electricity as it made its way to Nos.

 _Nos, confusion to hold it still. Then use agility._

Pink waves of psy energy floated out around the Magnemite, holding it in place. It strained to break free, but with the effects of Nasty Plot, Nos was able to hold it. And with Magnemite subdued, Nos galloped around the field, building up his stamina and speed. Cutter wanted Nos to stay in the battle for a long time, so he might as well start building up his stats early on.

"Now slam it with confusion!"

The Magnemite, still held by the effects of confusion, sailed towards the ground. "Magnet rise!" yelled Jasmine.

Magnemite was only inches from the ground when it used the move, which shot it up five feet and out of the effects of the confusion. They were on even footing again.

"Confusion again!"

"Light screen"

Cutter scowled as the light screen broke the confusion. Light screen was a move that reduced the damage of special based attacks. Psychic moves were already weak against steel types, and with the effects of light screen, it was practically useless. So far, Jasmine had had an answer to everything Nos threw at Magnemite. He didn't want to reveal Nos's ace so early on, but he felt like it was his only option.

"Nos, get in close and use focus blast!" Jasmine let out an audible gasp, obviously not anticipating that. Focus blast was a special based fighting type move. It was extremely powerful, but its accuracy was lacking, so in order to be sure that Nos would hit, he had to get in close.

"Magnemite, sonicboom! Cut it in half!"

Nos galloped in, splitting into three more copies of itself as a sonicboom ripped through the first. He knew that the double team wouldn't win the battle for them, but the momentary distraction was all that Nos needed. The remaining two Girafarig, fired a bright blue ball of energy at point-blank range from between their horns straight through the light screen, one real and the other illusory, knocking Magnemite unconscious.

Magnemite disappeared into its pokeball as the referee called out "Magnemite is unable to battle! The winner is Girafarig!"

Jasmine released her next pokemon. The silver bird circled overhead. Skarmory. Thanks to its partial flying type, it didn't have the same weaknesses to fighting type moves like focus blast that other steel types had.

"I'd like to switch out pokemon, please," Cutter called to the referee.

"Make your switch, challenger!"

This was the pokemon Cutter had counted on her using. Rillo was the only pokemon on the team with an advantage over Skarmory. Nos disappeared into the pokeball and was replaced with Rillo. Jasmine bit her lip. Things were going to be a little more difficult.

Skarmory started things off quickly. Without waiting for a command from her trainer she let loose a flurry of razor sharp spikes that landed scattered around the field. Cutter frowned. Luckily Rillo was more of a stationary pokemon, but when it came to Patriot, those spikes might pose a problem.

"Wing attack, girl! Drive her to the spikes." Skarmory dove down, her silver wings glowing white with the effects of wing attack and Rillo surrounded herself with an electric terrain before firing off a thunderbolt. The thunderbolt flew towards Skarmory, but it was weaker than Rillo's usual thunderbolts, and Skarmory dodged it without losing any of her momentum.

"Wait until it's close then use thunder wave!" Cutter's entire strategy banked on hitting it with thunder wave. Skarmory wasn't a particularly fast pokemon, but compared to Flaaffy, Skarmory might as well have been the fastest pokemon alive. None of Flaaffy's super effective moves would matter if she couldn't hit Skarmory. He had hoped thunderbolt would hit and end the battle early, but something was wrong with Rillo's thunderbolt, so no such luck.

Skarmory slammed into Rillo with wing attack and fled back up to the sky, but not before Rillo hit the Skarmory with thunder wave. Flying type moves weren't very effective against electric types, so Rillo was okay. Cutter looked up at the Skarmory however struggled to stay airborne. With the effects of paralysis making its way through Skarmory's highly conductive metallic body, it was having trouble staying in the air. He looked back down to the field and was shocked to find that Rillo's electric terrain had disappeared.

"Electric terrain again!" Cutter called, suddenly worried. What was wrong with Rillo's electric attacks?

"Agility!"

 _AAAARMMMMOOOOOO_.

The Skarmory screeched before shedding more spikes and flying around the field, trying to loosen her paralysis hindered body.

"Discharge!" Cutter yelled. Discharge was a move covered the entire field, so Cutter was sure it would hit Skarmory.

A blue glow of electricity surrounded Rillo as she charged the discharge before letting it loose. It covered the expanse of the arena, but didn't get higher than ten feet. That's when it hit Cutter. The spikes. The spikes were acting as a grounding tool, pulling electricity away from Skarmory in the sky. That's why her electric attacks can't hit. Cutter cursed himself. He was at a complete and total loss as to what to do. And to make matters worse, Rillo's electric terrain was disappearing again. Cutter watched as the sparks that made up electric terrain danced away toward the spikes, continually making the electric terrain smaller and smaller until it was completely gone again.

Cutter racked his brain, desperate to find an answer. If this kept up, Rillo would be out without even putting up a real fight.

With Skarmory using agility, the effects of thunder wave had worn off, and it was as if Rillo hadn't done anything in the battle at all.

"Swords dance!" Jasmine yelled triumphantly, as if she already knew she had won the battle.

"Dammit," muttered Cutter as the Skarmory began an awkward dance in the sky, clanging her wings together and screeching. Swords dance, in Skarmory's case, sharpened her metallic body by shedding unneeded, dull feathers, effectively streamlining her into a literal sword of a pokemon, therefore allowing her to hit harder and sharper than usual. And if Cutter didn't stop her, she would keep raising her attack power until it was maximized, effectively eliminating Rillo's resistances against both Skarmory's flying and steel types.

Cutter racked his brain as he watched Skarmory's odd dance and noticed the metallic feathers fluttering away from Skarmory toward the ground. And that's when it hit him.

"Rillo! Thunderbolt on the falling feathers!" Cutter cried, hoping his timing was right. If he called it out too early, the spikes would pull the electricity away from the feathers, destroying his strategy. If he called it too late, Skarmory would be done with her swords dance.

" _Laaaa_ ," Rillo cried, letting loose her most powerful thunderbolt yet, aiming it at the feathers closest to the ground. Some of the thunderbolt strayed away, but to Cutter's relief the majority of it hit. The low feathers took the initial electric shock, but all the feathers conducted the electricity, pulling it up and up, and since those feathers had just been shed, they served as even better conductors than the spikes, which had been embedded in the ground for the whole battle.

"Stop the swords dance!" Jasmine screamed, but it was too late. Thunderbolt struck Skarmory at nearly full force, and she screeched in pain as she fell.

"Rillo get in close! Avoid the spikes!"

Rillo ran toward the falling Skarmory as fast as she could while steering clear of the spikes and throwing the occasional charge beam, which were mostly absorbed by the spikes.

The Flaaffy reached Skarmory as soon as she hit the ground, with a resounding _THUD._ Now that Rillo was so close to Skarmory, there was no way the metal spikes would pull the electricity away. But swords dance and agility were still aiding the Skarmory, so Rillo needed to end the battle, and fast.

"Charge beam!"

"Cutter, Skarmory is best at close range. You should have played the waiting game," Jasmine scolded, obviously thinking she had the fight in the bag. Cutter looked away from Jasmine and back to the field as Skarmory slashed at Rillo with a steel wing, tearing a gash on her belly, the pink fur matting with blood.

Skarmory wasn't unscathed either. Charge beam after charge beam charred parts of her metallic body black, while also charging up more electricity in her body.

Rillo fired a close-range thunderbolt at Skarmory as the Skarmory kept up the steel wings, each hit creating yet another gash on Rillo's small pink body. Cutter grimaced at each one. He knew the wounds would be easily healed, but they hurt him just the same.

Rillo had just loosed another charge beam, her largest yet, when her body began to glow. At first Cutter thought she was using flash, but flash was more yellow and this was a pure white. She was evolving.

"Yes!" Screamed Cutter, pumping one fist into the air while shielding his eyes with the other. But when the light died down, she was still a Flaaffy. "What the hell," muttered Cutter.

Skarmory kept slashing at Flaaffy with steel wings, but she was still blinded from the brightness of the failed evolution, so they were missing Rillo completely.

"Rillo, thunderbolt!" Cutter yelled, but Rillo just stood there, seemingly unable to move. _Is something wrong, or is she just upset?_ "It's okay!" Cutter called to her. "You don't have to evolve to be strong! I love you as a Flaaffy or an Ampharos or whatever you choose to be! You don't have to change for me girl!" The two made eye contact for a moment longer before she turned back to Skarmory, whose vision had begun to return.

Rillo ducked under a well-placed steel wing and slammed an iron tail into one of Skarmory's legs. Skarmory fell from the force and was blasted in the face with a charge beam.

Skarmory sprung forward with her unhurt leg and retaliated with a drill peck to Rillo's face, causing Rillo to cry out. Rillo grabbed the Skarmory's face and used the strongest thunderbolt Cutter had ever seen her use, resulting in an explosion of light and dust around them.

When the dust cleared, the Skarmory was down. Rillo made eye contact with Cutter, and, he could have sworn she smiled at him, before she too fell.

"Both Skarmory and Flaaffy are unable to battle! This round is a draw!" The referee yelled.

"Good job Rillo," Cutter whispered to her pokeball before placing it back on his belt. He released Nos again while Jasmine sent out a pokemon Cutter wasn't very familiar with. Durant. He knew its name and that it was both steel and bug type, but he didn't know anything else about it. This was a pokemon he was not expecting. Durant didn't appear in many of Jasmine's battle videos, so he had pushed thoughts of it to the side. Now he wished he hadn't. He tried to remember anything about it, but all he could come up with was that it was a very hard hitter.

"Dig!" Jasmine called, starting off the battle.

Durant burrowed into the earth and Nostradamus closed his eyes, finding the pokemon underground with his psychic powers. Nos opened his eyes and leapt forward just as Durant exploded from the earth. Durant looked around angrily before finding its escaped target.

"Vicegrip," commanded Jasmine, her voice stern. After Skarmory had fainted, something in her changed. She didn't want to lose and was all business now.

Durant lunged forward, its pincers open and ready to clamp down on Nos.

 _Levitate then stomp._

Just as Durant reached Nos, he levitated upward just enough to clear Durant before slamming down onto Durant's head with a stomp. Using the momentum from the stomp, Nos leapt away, moving spikes out of his way with confusion before landing. _That gives me an idea_. Nos spun around to look at the Durant who looked angrier than before, which Cutter found hard to believe.

 _Throw spikes at it_.

Nos slowly backed away from Durant, who crept after Nos like a predator stalking their prey.

Nos started gradually, only throwing one spike at a time, which only served to annoy Durant. He then threw clusters of five or six, which seemed to do at least a little damage, Cutter thought.

Jasmine was tired of the waiting game. "Crunch." She commanded. Durant scuttled forward, its pincers open, a dark energy enveloping them.

 _Levitate again_.

Nos waited until the last second to levitate off the ground, but both pokemon and trainer should have known that the same trick wouldn't work on a trainer as talented as Jasmine more than once.

"Up!" she shouted and Durant launched itself upward, crunching down with powerful pincers on Nos's exposed underbelly. Durant twisted its body and slammed Nos into the ground, who softened the blow with a confusion.

Durant scuttled on top of Nos and clamped down around Nos's neck with a bug bite.

Nos responded by blasting Durant in the face at point blank range with a focus blast, which thanks to Durant's partial bug typing, did neutral damage. Still, it threw Durant off of Nos, but Durant took hair and blood with him, the white fur around Nos's neck reddened by blood.

Nos stood up shakily, whinnying and pawing at the ground. Anger flooded Cutter. Anger was not something Cutter had ever felt from Nos before, and he didn't like it, but he was too angry to care. The anger clouded his judgement and he pushed off the slow game that had been serving them well so far by telling Nos _slam all the spikes into him_. Or did Nos think that? Cutter couldn't tell, and he was too angry to think straight. Or was Nos's anger making it hard for him to think straight? Regardless, the battle was about to speed up.

Using confusion, Nos gathered all the remaining spikes on the field into a huge ball and sent it crashing into Durant. _Surely that took it out,_ Cutter smiled. Nos's anger began to fade away, being replaced instead by a feeling of pride.

Cutter looked up at Jasmine, waiting for the referee to make the call, but she was smiling. Cutter's mouth widened in horror. _Dig._ The feeling of pride was gone, and in its place was worry.

Durant sprung from the earth before Nos had a chance to move, slamming into his belly with an iron head.

Nos used confusion to hold the Durant still, only for the bug to break through it with a crunch. Durant latched onto one of Nos's front legs and twisted. There was a sharp _CRACK_ and Nos collapsed. Cutter returned him before any more damage could be done.

Cutter didn't hear anything the referee said as he fell to his knees and pressed his knuckles into his eyes, trying to force the pain and humiliation that he had felt through Nos from his mind. He still had the Durant and one more pokemon to take out. He had to do it, if not for himself, for Nos.

Cutter stood as the referee was asking him if he was okay to continue. "Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm fine," Cutter forced out as he released Quagsire onto the field. He had a feeling as to what Jasmine's last pokemon was, and he needed to save Patriot for that behemoth of a challenge that was yet to come.

"Begin!" yelled the referee.

"This is a gym battle Quagsire! Not a game! We have to win this!" Cutter called out to his pokemon, hoping desperately that he understood.

 _"Waaags,"_ Quagsire responded, cocking his head in his trademark way.

The battle with Nos had taken a toll on Durant, and it showed. Its movements were sluggish and tired as it scuttled across the field, but that didn't mean Cutter was going to underestimate it. He had to battle it as if it still had full health. He had underestimated opponents before and it almost always ended badly. Not again.

If any pokemon knew how to play the waiting game, it was Quagsire. Quagsire was the perfect pokemon to take on a tired Durant. Quagsire was incredibly defensive, and the natural slime-like sweat that Quagsire oozed in order to keep itself wet outside of water was the perfect defense against a pokemon with pincers. Even if Durant's pincers did manage to clamp down on Quagsire, he could easily slide out of them.

"Vice grip!" Jasmine called.

Durant scuttled toward Quagsire and leapt up. Quagsire held his arm out and Durant clamped down. The Quagsire stared dumbly at Durant for a second before lifting it into the sky and slamming the bug into the ground with a _THUD_. The force of the slam loosened Durant's grip and Quagsire pulled his arm free. The water type blasted Durant with a high-pressure water gun, the ground around them growing muddy.

The bug tried crawling away, but the muddy ground offered no grip, so Durant's legs just flailed uselessly. Quagsire wrapped up the battle with a mud bomb to Durant's back.

Jasmine returned Durant and Cutter smiled triumphantly as the referee announced that Cutter was the victor of the final round and for Jasmine to release her final pokemon.

In a flash of light, the behemoth Steelix that Cutter was expecting filled the room. This Steelix was at least thirty feet tall, nearly reaching the roof of the arena. Steelix was a staple in Jasmine's gym battles. Even though this was not the Steelix she used for level eight challengers and in her challenges against the Elite Four, Cutter knew better than to understand a pokemon as powerful as this one.

"Begin!" called the referee.

Jasmine leaned forward against the railing of her battle box, not saying a word as Steelix burrowed into the ground. Cutter gulped. Steelix was able to battle without instruction. This was going to be hard.

"Water gun on the field!" Cutter cried. "And figure out where Steelix is underground." Thanks to Quagsire's partial ground typing, he was able to feel any disturbances in the earth. That would be important. Cutter believed that Patriot would be able to defeat Steelix, but the more Quagsire could hurt it, the better off Patriot would be.

Quagsire sprayed the field with water gun, making the ground soggy and hard to move through. Cutter hoped that it would slow Steelix down.

Steelix exploded from the earth, throwing Quagsire up at least twenty feet.

The Water Fish pokemon spun around in mid-air using the pressure from a water gun and blasted the Steelix in its face with a mud bomb. Steelix responded by slamming Quagsire back down toward the field with a powerful iron tail. Quagsire landed with a cloud of dust, but Cutter let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when his water pokemon stood up.

"Yawn!" Cutter cried.

Quagsire opened his huge mouth and yawned. A large bubble appeared and floated upward toward Steelix, who watched it for a second before roaring, making the bubble pop.

"Dammit," muttered Cutter. He wasn't too sure of how yawn worked, but he knew that if it made contact with Steelix's face, within thirty seconds, the great steel type would be asleep.

Steelix burrowed under the earth again, but this time Cutter knew what to do. _Why didn't I think of this before?_ "Earthquake!"

Jasmine's face transformed from happy to fearful at the sound of that attack. Earthquake was the strongest ground type move there was, and when used on a pokemon that was underground, its power doubled. Jasmine should have known his Quagsire would know the move. Then again, Steelix _was_ battling on its own.

"Steelix come up!" Jasmine screamed, but it was too late. Quagsire leapt up and, using his full strength, slammed back onto the ground, causing the entire room to shake with the power of the earthquake.

Steelix sprang up from the earth, screeching louder than anything Cutter had ever heard. It sounded like the grinding of metal.

"Steelix, time to end this," Jasmine commanded. Cutter didn't know what that meant, but he didn't like the sound of it. Steelix just flicked his tail in response.

No one moved for a second, but out of nowhere Steelix pushed itself completely off the ground, something Cutter previously would not have thought possible. The Iron Snake writhed in the air and shot itself downward. Quagsire readied itself and shot the strongest water gun it could at the behemoth, but that did nothing to deter it. Steelix crashed into Quagsire with a combination of iron head and earthquake so powerful that even the lights on the ceiling shook. The earth on the field rumbled, causing rocks and sand to fly everywhere When Steelix reared back from the attack, Quagsire was fainted and the field was no longer smooth. It was wet and hilly from the combination of Quagsire's water gun and Steelix's finishing move.

Cutter returned Quagsire and sent out Patriot as the referee announced the winner of the round. _This is it_. "Patriot, you're both the last pokemon!" Patriot nodded in response before bouncing his ball and turning back to Steelix.

"It has been a pleasure battling you, Cutter. I look forward to our final round," Jasmine called out to him.

"The pleasure is all mine, Jasmine. I'm ready for you to hand over that gym badge," Cutter said with a smirk. "Patriot, bulk up!"

Patriot hopped around and bounced his ball, releasing a rush of adrenaline that powered him up, serving as a muscle booster that both increased how hard he could hit and how hard he could be hit.

Steelix wasn't in the mood to let the Passimian get stronger, so it lashed out with an iron tail. Patriot leapt over it with ease and bounded toward the Iron Snake.

He hopped over another iron tail before jumping onto Steelix's back. Patriot scurried up the Steelix's long body, avoiding several iron tails thrown at him on the way.

Patriot leapt onto Steelix's head. In one deft movement, Patriot sprung upwards and slammed his soccer ball into the one part of Steelix's colossal body that wasn't covered in steel—his eye.

Steelix screamed and Patriot landed on the Iron Snake's head with a well-placed brick break.

The Passimian clung to one of the metal outcroppings on Steelix's head as the steel pokemon thrashed in pain, trying to throw Patriot from atop its head.

Every chance Patriot got, he struck the Steelix's head with brick break, only managing to increase Steelix's anger. Cutter couldn't even tell if the Steelix was feeling any pain either. It seemed just as angry then as it did when it was battling Quagsire.

Steelix dug under the ground and Patriot leapt off, racing around the field trying to keep Steelix guessing as to where he was.

Steelix exploded from the ground, throwing mud everywhere. Patriot stumbled and the steel type lashed out with an iron tail, this one connecting and sending Patriot flying.

The Passimian recovered quickly and bounded back, kicking out with low sweep. Steelix fell and Cutter yelled out "close combat!" wanting Patriot to end the battle. Patriot went in swinging, but it didn't look exactly right. They had been working close combat a lot that last week in preparation for this battle, but Patriot had yet to fully grasp it. Nevertheless, the attempt at close combat was still extremely effective. Steelix swiped at Patriot with another iron tail, but Patriot threw up a protect. The blue bubble of protect shattered under the force of the impact, but it served its purpose.

"End this," Jasmine called out. Cutter thought he heard a hint of worry, but now wasn't the time to focus on that. Steelix threw itself into the air once again and slammed down to where Patriot was.

Patriot, much faster than Quagsire, leapt out of the way. The force of Steelix slamming its head into the ground stunned it long enough for Patriot to finish the battle with a brick break to the softer metal under Steelix's jaw.

Steelix rose back up and swayed for a moment. Cutter tensed his whole body, waiting. Steelix slammed into the ground unconscious and Cutter relaxed, smiling.

"Steelix is unable to battle. Jasmine has no more pokemon that are able to battle. Therefore, Passimian is the winner and the challenger is victorious!" The referees words rang out loud and clear, making Cutter's smile grow.

Cutter jumped over the railing that separated his battle box from the field and swept Patriot up in a hug. "Good job, boy," Cutter whispered as the Passimian spun him around.

"Cutter, excellent battle today," Jasmine said as Patriot set Cutter down. "You deserve this gym badge." Jasmine handed him the Olivine gym badge, which was silver and hexagonal. Cutter smiled as he took it.

"Thank you Jasmine. It was an honor to battle you. Thank you for the opportunity," Cutter smiled as he took her hand. _Wow, she's even more beautiful up close_. "Thank you again," Cutter said before turning away, hiding his blushing face.

Cutter made his way out of the doors of the gym, accepting the congratulations from the man at the front desk. He was immediately overtaken by the Olivine heat and he knew where he was going after he got his pokemon healed up at the Center. The beach.

xx

 **Thanks for reading yet again, and thanks to Melior for beta reading for me! This chapter was challenging to write, but ultimately I'm happy with it. Thanks for being awesome readers. I couldn't do it without you guys. Leave a like, comment, follow or review! I'm always happy for the feedback. Thanks, and peace!**


	15. The Safari Zone

"Thank you Nurse Joy," Cutter smiled as he took his pokemon back from the pink haired Pokemon Doctor.

"My pleasure," Nurse Joy said, bowing her head to him. "Your Girafarig will need to refrain from battling for three days though, Mr. Robinson. His leg was broken in the battle, and he needs time to get his strength back. Mental training is fine, but no sprints and no sparring."

"Only three days?" Cutter asked, astounded. Humans generally needed eight weeks to heal broken bones. Then again, Nos was a pokemon, and a psychic one at that.

As if reading Cutter's mind, Joy said, "well, he is a psychic type. Psychic types heal at an accelerated rate compared to pokemon of lesser brain power. And this Girafarig is special. I rarely see one so resilient."

 _Well he is royalty_ , is what Cutter thought, but all he said was, "Thank you again," as he left the desk.

Cutter stepped into the warm Olivine air, the breeze from the ocean that made it this far into shore was cool and it tussled his long hair. _I really need a haircut_ , Cutter thought to himself, _but what I really need right now is to go to the beach._ Cutter smiled as he took off running, releasing Patriot as he went. Patriot, never one to shy away from a good time, bounded alongside him, laughing and bouncing his ball.

He had also bought a swimsuit from the Pokemon Center's gift shop and snagged a towel from his room at the Pokemon Center. "Surely they won't miss it," he had told Silver, who seemed to glare at him sternly. Then again, Silver didn't have many facial expressions other than glaring sternly, so it was hard to tell what he was really feeling.

As Cutter stepped onto the beach, the sun warming his face, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He sighed as he saw who was calling him. His mother.

xx

Cutter stepped into the Foreign Relations Office in Olivine. Thanks to his mother, his beach trip was temporarily delayed. His parents left for Hoenn in approximately two weeks, and Cutter needed a passport in order to accompany them. He didn't know why he didn't think of getting his passport earlier. His parents had reminded him several times, and he had just kept putting it off. Now he wasn't sure if he would even be able to accompany them.

"How may I help you?" said the man at the desk in a bored voice, not bothering to look up from his computer.

"Um, yeah I need to get a passport," Cutter said.

"Do you have a Pokedex?" asked the man.

"Yes," replied Cutter, handing the red device to the man.

The man plugged it into the computer and spent a few seconds clicking and typing. "You're eligible for a bypassed Trainer's Passport, thanks to your position within the League."

"What's a bypassed Trainer's Passport?" Cutter asked.

For the first time since Cutter arrived, the man looked up at him. He would have much rather the man not have, for the man gave him a rather nasty look. "It allows you to capture pokemon in that region. Generally, foreigners don't have that opportunity, thanks to travel laws and poaching and yadda yadda yadda, but with a Trainer's Passport, you can. And, since you're in the League, you can bypass all the usual fees and waiting time. A Trainer's Passport would ordinarily take up to three months to have completed and ready for the trainer, but since you're eligible for the bypass, it will be only a week."

"A week," Cutter said, nodding, relief flooding his body. Suddenly, even the man's sour attitude couldn't dampen his spirits.

"Yes. A week."

"I will be in Cianwood in five days, and that's where my flight is from. Is there any way that I could have my passport shipped there?"

Cianwood was a growing city on an island off of the west coast of Johto. Cutter had already taken care of getting his ferry ticket to Cianwood while his pokemon were being healed, so getting his passport was the only other chore for the day. He would be on his way to the island the following afternoon. The ferry, according to Nurse Joy, was the cheapest way to get there. The trip would be about four days, but she said it would probably be a big ship with a lot to do. Nurse Joy told him that there were often battle competitions and many small shops to check out on board.

The man sighed loudly, obviously irked by Cutter's requests. But, after a moment he said, "yes. We can have it sent to the Pokemon Center in Cianwood. It will be approximately a week and a half until it can get to you."

"That's perfect," Cutter smiled. He would have his passport in time, plus it allowed him to capture pokemon from the Hoenn region! He had no Hoenn pokemon yet, so the very thought of befriending and capturing one excited him.

"Wonderful," the man drawled, making it sound anything but wonderful. "First, some paperwork."

xx

The paperwork took the better part of an hour, but as soon as it was over, Cutter headed back to the beach.

He stepped onto the pure white sand and closed his eyes, allowing the sun's rays to warm him. The hottest part of the summer was yet to come, but Cutter was still thankful for the salty sea breeze that cooled him. It was time to relax.

Cutter released his team and sat down on his towel. "Well, we're at the beach," Cutter laughed, watching his team. None of them, with the exception of potentially Patriot, had ever been to a beach before. This was entirely new to all of them. Silver was eyeing the waves nervously, and Rillo simply sat down by her trainer, blasting the sand in front of her with short electric shocks. Arbok laid out flat, the heat from the sand and the sun providing her cold-blooded body with the warmth that she had been longing. Patriot was throwing sand up in the air and Nos was catching it in a purple psychic bubble, then throwing it back at Patriot. Quagsire had run straight to the water. He hadn't ever had access to such a large body of water, and he was eager to explore it.

"Just have fun and be safe," Cutter smiled, laying back onto his towel, his pokemon already doing their own thing. "Silver, watch out for Nos," he told his starter who had settled by his side. "He's strong, but there are still people out there who would love to get their hands on him." Silver hummed in agreeance before burrowing down slightly into the sand.

 _I can take care of myself, Father._

 _I know you can, Nos. I just care about you is all._

Nos didn't reply, but Cutter felt Nos's presence in his mind. He smiled as he drifted off, the warmth of the sun making him drowsy.

xx

Cutter awoke some time later. The sun was still high in the sky, so it couldn't be too late. He looked around and saw Quagsire splashing around in the shallows of the sea with a strange looking pink pokemon Cutter had never seen before. Rillo was asleep next to him, Silver was nestled into the sand, watching the ocean and the rest of the team. Nos was rebuilding a sand castle that Patriot had destroyed with his soccer ball while Cutter was asleep. Arbok was nowhere to be found, but Cutter guessed that the giant hole in the sand held his purple friend.

Cutter sat up and stretched and a voice next to him said "that's my Jellicent with your Quagsire. They seem to be getting along quite well."

"Yeah," mumbled Cutter, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, looking over at the girl who the voice belonged to. She was a girl that appeared to be several years older with brown hair that was cut pixie style. She was wearing giant sunglasses that covered most of her face and made her look kind of like a bug. Cutter stifled a smile and said "I'm Cutter." He looked around the beach, noticing that, with the exception of three men farther down, they were the only two around.

"And I'm Gina," she said.

"I've never seen that pokemon before," Cutter said, gesturing towards the Jellicent.

"They're pretty rare here in Johto," Gina said as she stroked a Flareon that had trotted up next to her. "I'm from Unova. Here on vacation for the week."

"Ohh, okay," Cutter said, nodding.

Cutter looked away from her to watch Quagsire and the two of them settled into an odd silence, but Cutter could feel her eyes on him. She made him uneasy.

"Your Girafarig is beautiful," Gina said, breaking the silence.

"Thank you." Cutter forced a smile, hoping she couldn't tell that it was insincere. Ordinarily, Cutter would not have minded the compliment to Nos, but this girl unnerved him.

 _Father we must leave_.

 _Why?_ Cutter thought back to Nos without looking at him. He didn't want Gina to suspect that they were communicating.

"Where did you find it?"

 _She is a poacher._

Cutter stood and her eyes followed him.

"Oh, in Ilex Forest." Cutter whistled for Arbok as he folded his towel. "Hey team, we're leaving." Cutter was trying to keep his voice steady.

"Gone so soon?" Gina asked.

"Yeah, we're heading out tomorrow morning and I want to get in some training before we leave." All of Cutter's team had made their way to their trainer, with the exception of Arbok. Cutter went to return the rest of his team as he waited for Arbok, but Nos stopped him.

 _No. We are going to have to fight. Do not return them_.

The three guys were gone and now it was just him and Gina on the beach. "Would you want to have a little battle with me? I would love to battle your Girafarig."

"No, he broke his leg in a gym challenge and can't battle for a few days. We really just need to train on our own." Cutter took a step back, wanting to distance himself from Gina.

"I insist, we must have a battle," Gina said as her Jellicent floated up to her and Flareon glared at him from its trainer's side.

"I insist we don't," Cutter replied as Patriot got in between the two trainers, baring his teeth at the girl. Flareon stepped forward and hissed at the Passimian. _Where is Arbok?_ Cutter asked Nos.

 _I do not know, Father._

"Look, I don't want any trouble," Gina snarled. She had dropped the nice girl act. "All I want is your Girafarig. Now, you can either just hand him over and the rest of your pokemon will be fine, or—." Just what exactly Cutter's other option was, he would never know. At that moment Arbok erupted from the sand and slammed her tail into the poacher, her body crumpling to the ground. Patriot capitalized on the momentary distraction and took down the Flareon with ease. Silver and Nos incapacitated the Jellicent.

Cutter glanced toward Gina to make sure she wasn't getting back up when he saw Arbok rear back, ready to strike. "Arbok, stop!" Cutter shouted as he threw himself forward between the poacher and his pokemon. Arbok, looking angry, refrained, fighting every ounce of her animalistic instincts out of respect for this human who loved her. "Look, I know that she was going to try and hurt us, but we can't just go around killing everyone who does. You saved us a lot of trouble here, but you have to control yourself." Cutter reached his hand out to stroke Arbok, but she pulled away. Cutter dropped his gaze, upset. Arbok still had so much anger in her from the incident at the farm. He didn't know what to do.

xx

Cutter walked away from the police station, holding Arbok's Great Ball in his hand. Officer Jenny had come and taken the poacher back to the police station, and he had had to go along in order to give a statement.

"What am I going to do with you, Arbok?"Cutter whispered to the great ball.Cutter loved Arbok. They had bonded and grown together so much in the time since he had captured her, but he knew that she couldn't continue being as violent. At some point, Arbok would get upset with him or another member of the team and then what? Cutter couldn't have Arbok attacking any of his pokemon, or him either for that matter. He hung his head as he pocketed her ball.

xx

The trip to Cianwood was, unfortunately, not filled with battles as Nurse Joy had assured him it might be. The ferry that Cutter was on was one of the smaller ones, and the only entertainment that the ship offered was a screening of a different movie each night. Cutter watched all of them, but only to get out of their room. He found them all quite boring.

Still, Cutter survived. He and his team mostly hung out in their room or on the side deck, which was just large enough to hold him and his team. Most of the people on board were elderly folks headed to Cianwood for vacation, Olivine was too busy for them, so Cutter rarely had to worry about bothering anyone there. Most of them stayed on the main deck playing shuffleboard.

At dinner on the third night, Cutter realized that there were bottles of champagne at the ends of the buffet lines with no one watching them. Cutter put one in his backpack when he thought no one was looking and smuggled it back to his room.

He poured some champagne into one of the Styrofoam coffee cups that was next to the sink and took a sip. He gagged at the taste. _How does anyone like this?_ But Cutter was determined to find some relief from the boredom, so he pinched his nose and chugged the rest of it back.

Fifteen minutes later and he was drunk. All of his pokemon were out in the room, just watching him jump up and down on the bed. "Come on! It's fun!" Cutter insisted. He didn't have to tell Patriot twice, and soon after Rillo followed.

They jumped for quite a while, but eventually Cutter got worn out and fell onto the bed. "I love you guys!" Cutter said as he sat up, a smile plastered on his face.

 _Father, we love you too, but it is late. We are tired._

Cutter glared at Nos before laying back down and turning away from Nos. He wanted to stay awake and be angry, but he was asleep within thirty seconds.

By the start of the fourth day, Cutter felt as if he would die of boredom, and his team was starting to get stir crazy. The champagne the night before had only temporarily alleviated the boredom. Cutter thanked Arceus that he didn't have a hangover. He had heard all about them and had no interest in having one.

The only ones that were enjoying themselves at all were Quagsire and Arbok, and that was just because Cutter sometimes let them out to swim alongside the boat. Nos was fine, simply because he had an extremely calm and patient nature, as did Silver, but even they started to get tired of being so cooped up.

The real trouble was with Patriot and Rillo. Specifically Patriot. Rillo, usually docile, was best friends with Patriot. So, when Patriot got bored and started acting out, he usually brought Rillo along for the ride. And Patriot did not like being cooped up on a boat for four days, and he let Cutter know it.

At breakfast on the last morning, Patriot goaded Rillo into a food fight with him. Patriot started it by pouring gravy onto Rillo's head. Rillo threw an Oran berry at him, but missed and hit Quagsire. Quagsire, never one to miss out on the fun, responded not with food, but with a mud bomb attack. The mud bomb exploded on Rillo, but the splash zone included not only the rest of the team, but several old ladies who were sitting at the table next to them as well. Arbok flicked her tail into a pyramid of brownies, striking them straight into Cutter.

"Room. Now," Cutter demanded, trying to keep his face straight. As annoyed as he was with his team, he could barely keep the smile off of his face. He couldn't blame his team for trying to have this little bit of fun, but he also couldn't risk this food fight escalating into something more, something that got any of the old people hurt.

Just as Cutter was closing the door to his room, there was a knock. Cutter, sure he was in trouble, opened it. The Captain was standing there.

xx

There was Cutter and his team, the last morning of the boat ride, cleaning up the dining hall. The Captain wasn't too upset. He understood what it was like to be cooped up on a tiny boat with a bunch of old people and no outlets for your pokemon. He didn't even really got onto Cutter. He just felt bad for the cleaning staff. They already had to clean the entire pool because an older man had thrown up in it. So, he asked Cutter if he wouldn't mind taking care of it.

Cutter smiled as he tried to teach Patriot how to mop. He had finally found something the Passimian wasn't good at. Really, no one on his team was any good at cleaning, with the exception of Nostradamus. But that wasn't a fair comparison because of Nos's superior brain power and psychic ability.

Eventually Cutter just told Quagsire to sit off to the side because instead of doing any kind of cleaning, Quagsire was just spreading slime everywhere. That wasn't the Quagsire's fault, it was just the natural slime his body produced to keep him cool. Cutter laughed at his team attempting to clean and felt an overpowering rush of love, and this time Nos wasn't influencing his emotions at all.

xx

They made it into Cianwood by noon that day, and Cutter practically kissed the ground when he got off. He didn't mind the water or the boat, it was just the boredom that he hated with a passion. Cutter made his way to the Pokemon Center and got a room for the next nine nights before making his way to the Training Plots in the Center.

Cutter released his team and had them all do some light warm ups before they got into battles against each other. They hadn't had any actual battling since the gym battle five days ago, and they were ready to release some pent up energy. What better pokemon to do it on than each other?

"Alright," Cutter called out after they finished warming up, "I'm going to have you battle each other." Cutter paused for dramatic effect as his team stared up at him. He couldn't help but chuckle. What a team. Cutter was so proud of all of his pokemon. They hadn't even done anything right them to make him proud, he just loved them all so much. "All of you at the same time. The battle ends when only one of you is still able to go on. You can go all out, but if I feel things are getting out of hand or if you are no longer able to battle, I will return you. Is that clear?" Patriot began jumping up and down, hooting and hollering with excitement while Nos thought to him, _Is this a good idea, Father?_

 _A great idea, Nos,_ Cutter smiled slyly. With any luck they would all tire each other out and Cutter could get a good nights rest.

Cutter stepped back off of the plot and called "begin!"

Recently, Nos had always beaten Patriot when they battled and Patriot was tired of it. Before, Patriot had been considerably stronger and more disciplined than Nos, so even with a type disadvantage Patriot always came out victorious. Nos had grown exponentially in the last month and was able to put his type advantage to good use. Nos hadn't been beaten by Patriot in over three weeks, and Patriot was tired of it.

As soon as Cutter announced the start of the free for all, Patriot leapt forward and slammed an iron head into Nos's unsuspecting side. Nos stumbled but remained standing. He picked Patriot up with a confusion and slammed him into Silver before blasting Quagsire with a well aimed psybeam. _Father, this is barbaric,_ Nos thought to Cutter, but Cutter could feel the joy emanating from the albino pokemon. He was not holding back.

Quagsire stumbled from the psybeam, and the mud bomb he was aiming at Rillo missed completely, instead splashing harmlessly against the ground. Arbok had already disappeared underground and Cutter figured that's where she was going to stay until she felt absolutely positive that she could score a direct hit. No point in putting herself in harm's way before she had to.

Rillo surrounded the ground around her with an electric terrain and fired off random thunderbolts at whoever got too close. It was a good idea, but those thunderbolts had no effect whatsoever on neither Quagsire nor Silver. Luckily for her, however, Silver was too preoccupied with chasing Patriot around. While Patriot was tired of losing to Nos, Silver was tired of losing to Patriot. Both the superior experience and the type advantage that Patriot held over Silver was just too much, and Silver was never able to win against Patriot.

The ground around Silver rose as he rode the earth towards Patriot with a bulldoze. Silver scored a direct hit and Patriot stumbled backwards. Patriot lashed out with a low kick and sent Silver flying directly at Rillo. Rillo, not one to miss an opportunity to show her strength to her stronger teammates, slammed an iron tail into Silver's face before he even hit the ground.

Quagsire blasted a water gun from point-blank range into Rillo's back and she flew out of the relative safety of her electric terrain. Before she could get back up, Arbok exploded from the ground and knocked her out with dig. Cutter sighed as he returned her to her pokeball. He was hoping that she would last a little longer.

Cutter turned to see Patriot swing out with a brick break aimed directly at Silver, but a giant spire of stone sprung up from the earth and threw Patriot into the air. Silver pelted the defenseless Passimian with rock throw after rock throw before being interrupted by a water gun from Quagsire. Silver struck back with a sand attack into Quagsire's face. Quagsire, his vision impeded by the sand attack, used a poorly aimed water gun that missed Silver entirely, instead hitting Arbok, who had just appeared from underground yet again.

Arbok, angry at being attacked by her former (maybe current? Cutter wasn't sure) lover, threw a sludge bomb directly into Quagsire's face. Quagsire's ground typing made it all but ineffective, but Arbok wasn't done. She spat another, smaller ball of poison at Quagsire. Toxic. Cutter smiled. She had been having trouble mastering toxic, but it seemed that it worked this time. He knew what was coming next and was praying to Arceus that it would work.

A misty purple vapor leaked from Arbok's mouth, and then a highly concentrated, needle like poison jetted into the face of Quagsire, who screamed in pain. Even with the resistance that the ground typing offered, the combination of toxic and venoshock still did a good bit of damage. "Yes!" Cutter yelled, jubilant that Arbok finally succeeded in using venoshock.

Arbok's joy was short lived, however, because Nos picked her up with confusion and after just a few seconds of writhing and struggling Arbok fainted.

Cutter returned her and barely had time to put her great ball away before having to return Silver as well. Patriot and Silver fought tooth and nail when Quagsire came out of nowhere and startled them both with a mud bomb. While Patriot and Silver recovered from the surprise attack, Quagsire blasted Silver with a close-range water gun, knocking him out.

Three down. Cutter figured that Patriot and Nos would be in the final three, but he also expected Silver to be in it as well. He thought Quagsire would have been knocked out already, but upon thinking about it, he should have known Quagsire would do well. Quagsire had a type advantage over all three of the pokemon that had already been knocked out, not to mention Quagsire was a good battler. Cutter always seemed to forget just how strong Quagsire was. He needed to stop underestimating him.

Patriot and Nos wanted to finish each other off, and they didn't want to have to worry about Quagsire getting in their way, so they turned their attention to Quagsire.

Patriot sprung forward with a low kick and swept Quagsire's legs out from under him. Nos followed up with a stomp to Quagsire's face. Quagsire summoned a wave of water from the earth and tried to use the muddy water to propel the two away from him, but Patriot pulled up a protect around both him and Nos, and the water flowed harmlessly past them.

Nos was not one to miss an opportunity and used zen headbutt into Patriot's back, making the protect falter. Quagsire slammed his tail into the ground and the field rumbled and shifted right as Patriot went to leap at Nos. The shifted right as Patriot tried to jump, so instead of jumping, the Passimian simply collapsed. Nos simply levitated until the earthquake stopped.

Quagsire, tired from the earthquake, had no way to defend himself when Nos turned to him with hypnosis. Cutter returned Quagsire and turned to find Patriot standing back up, staring down Nos.

Nos used hypnosis again, but it bounced harmlessly off of the blue bubble of protect that Patriot threw up.

Patriot threw his soccer ball straight up into the air and Nos had an uncharacteristic lack in character. His eyes followed the path of the ball, giving Patriot the opening he needed. Patriot used low kick, knocking Nos down.

Patriot leapt at the fallen Girafarig, but Nos sent him flying with confusion. Patriot landed expertly and bounded back over, dodging a poorly aimed psybeam. He swept his leg out for a low kick, but Nos was expecting it and levitated above it.

This was apparently what Patriot was expecting Nos to do, because as soon as Nos levitated, he jumped forward and landed an iron head directly to the unprotected chest of Nos, who fell hard to the ground. Nos tried to stand, but couldn't. He crumpled to the ground, fainted.

" _HEA HEAAA,"_ Patriot jumped up and down with elation. He had finally taken down Nos. Cutter smiled softly as he returned Nos and went to congratulate Patriot on his well fought battle.

xx

Cutter spent the next few days training and exploring the town. He had a gym challenge coming up and while he initially thought of just running off and challenging the gym, he decided against it. He had nine days in Cianwood. There was no point in rushing things.

He did go to the gym and schedule it for the following Saturday, though. Since he was on the second half of his Gym Challenge, he was required to schedule the match in advance. That way people could come and watch the battle. The League required this so that trainers could have some experience with battling in front of people before they got to the Silver League. The Silver League often had over 100,000 people watching it in the later rounds, so having a semifinalist break down because of the pressure of people watching was something the League wanted to avoid at all costs.

Plus, there were a few things he wanted to do. Cianwood used to be a tiny village, back when his parents had been traveling, but since the Safari Zone opened, it turned the tiny town into a growing hubbub for traveling trainers, and Cutter desperately wanted to go to the Safari Zone. There were pokemon there that were not available anywhere else in the Johto region, and he wanted to capture one. So, on his second day in Cianwood, that's where he went.

xx

Cutter stepped into the cool, air-conditioned air of the lobby of the Safari Zone. He wiped his brow and waited a second to cool off before approaching the receptionist who would give him his pass to enter.

A poster with all of the pokemon currently available in the Safari Zone caught his eye. There were quite a few pokemon on there that tickled his fancy. He studied it for a moment longer as he cooled down before he decided he was ready.

"One ticket into the Safari Zone," Cutter said to the smiling receptionist.

"Of course. That will be 500 Pokedollars." Cutter gulped before remembering his stipend from The League. Before, he probably would not have been able to afford the ticket, but now he was comfortable enough to buy multiple tickets to the Safari Zone if he wanted.

"Here you go," Cutter said as he handed the money to her.

"Alright, Mr. Robinson. You are allowed one pokemon with you in the Safari Zone. This is for protection, _not_ for battling. You are not permitted to battle the pokemon unless they attack you first." She paused and Cutter nodded. "Here are your thirty Safari Balls inside of this storage ball." She handed him the storage ball and continued, "You have six hours, or until you run out of Safari Balls! Now, please hand over all of your pokemon except for one. You will get them back once your time is complete."

Cutter frowned. Who should he bring with him? He could use this time to bond with whatever pokemon he chose. He and Nos were as close as pokemon and trainer could be already, so he knew he shouldn't choose Nos. He and Silver hadn't had much alone time together in a while, but Cutter knew deep down who to bring with him, who needed it the most. Cutter reluctantly handed the receptionist three Pokeballs, one Great Ball, and one Premier Ball, holding onto one Great Ball that held the pokemon he needed to spend the most time with.

xx

Two hours later, Cutter and Arbok had seen no wild pokemon. He thought he had seen the shadow of a Larvesta once, but it turned to be just a bush. The air was pleasant up here, though. The Safari Zone was nestled on the side of a dormant volcano, so it was shielded from a lot of the elements. Gray clouds gathered overhead and Cutter was afraid that it would rain. Luckily he had Arbok with him, who liked the rain, unlike Silver or Bellow. Cutter's throat closed up at the thought of Bellow. He had tried not to think about her lately because every time he did, tears just ended up flowing and he blamed himself over and over again for what happened.

He realized that he stopped walking and Arbok, who had just noticed her trainer was not right next to her, was looking back at him with a curious expression on her face. "Sorry, Arbok," Cutter muttered, wiping tears out of his eyes as he hurried to catch up with his pokemon. Bellow passed through my mind again." Arbok, normally a temperamental and indifferent pokemon, wrapped her thick tail around Cutter and pulled him in closer to her, in a hug of sorts. Cutter returned the hug and before he knew it tears were streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry Arbok. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect your baby. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect Bellow. I'm sorry that-," Cutter couldn't continue. Putting off all of his feelings about Bellow and the unborn Ekans had taken its toll. He collapsed into a heap of sobs, the sand of the desert habitat they were in offered a soft landing. Arbok pulled him back up, close to her. They stayed that way for five, ten, maybe twenty minutes. Arbok just holding her trainer, showing a side of her that Cutter had never seen before. "You did well on the beach. You saved us. You saved us a lot of trouble. She seemed strong, so if she would have pulled out the rest of her pokemon, we might have been in serious trouble. Thank you so much, Arbok." He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he heard her hiss and felt her tail tighten ever so slightly around him.

Finally, Cutter whispered, "thank you," and pulled away from the hug. He looked up at Arbok who was staring down at him with something that seemed like compassion.

xx

Over the next few hours, Cutter and Arbok made their way through the Safari Zone and the various mini-habitats that it contained. Cutter and Arbok had already explored the desert habitat, the mountain habitat, and were in the middle of the field habitat.

Even though the only pokemon that they had seen so far was a Keckleon that quickly vanished upon noticing them, Cutter was thoroughly enjoying his time with Arbok. The moment that they had had in the desert habitat truly seemed to change something within her. Before she had been quiet and sullen, but now she responded to him in an almost playful manner. Not nearly as playful as Patriot or Quagsire, but playful in her own way.

Cutter had packed some food from the Pokemon Center's cafeteria, so after a while they stopped to eat. Once they were full, they decided to take a short break from hunting pokemon to lay in the warm sun. Cutter pointed at random clouds and tried to figure out what they looked like. There was one that looked like a Growlithe, one that looked like a tree, and one that Cutter swore looked like a Drampa, although Arbok thought it looked like her.

Once they decided that they had relaxed enough, they decided to make their way back to the entrance of the Safari Zone. They had a little under two hours left, and it would take at least an hour and a half to get back to the gate. Cutter smiled. Even if he didn't catch any pokemon today, the time spent with Arbok was worth it.

They were approaching the forest habitat they had to pass through to get to the entrance and Cutter was about to say something to Arbok when the Cobra pokemon silenced him with a flick of her tail. Sitting just on the outskirts of the forest was a Darumaka, a small red fire type pokemon. Cutter didn't remember seeing Darumaka on the poster in the lobby, but he figured he just missed it. He shrugged it off and focused on the pokemon.

"Good one," Cutter whispered to Arbok as they crept forward. The Darumaka was eating a berry, not paying much attention to its surroundings and failing to notice the trainer and his pokemon getting closer and closer.

Fifty feet. Forty feet. Twenty-five feet. Ten feet. That's when the Darumaka looked up and made eye contact with Cutter. They stared into each other's eyes, the Darumaka sizing Cutter up. Cutter couldn't help but notice the piercing black gaze.

" _ARU,_ "the Darumaka cried before leaping backwards into the forest. Cutter leapt onto Arbok's back, and they sped after it, staying close behind the fleeing Darumaka. They chased it for at least ten minutes before it disappeared upwards into a tree. Cutter, with a Safari Ball ready in hand, jumped from Arbok's back into the foliage above and gave chase yet again. He scampered up the branches of the tree, forgetting completely about his fear of heights and the fact that at any second one of these branches could break, sending him crashing down onto the forest floor below. Cutter launched a Safari Ball at the escaping Darumaka, but it sailed past the pokemon. He saw a flash of red disappear into the trunk of the tree. He made his way farther up, seeing that the tree had a hollow spot that the Darumaka was able to escape into.

He was not, however, going to be deterred. He was going to wait it out. The Darumaka could not stay in there forever. "Make sure Darumaka doesn't get out from the bottom of the tree!" Cutter called out to Arbok, who hissed in response. Cutter looked down but all he could see were leaves and branches. Arbok was invisible behind them.

Cutter perched on a branch right next to the hollow point and waited. He waited for at least forty-five minutes when a small green head poked out of the trunk of the tree and made eye contact with Cutter. Without thinking, Cutter threw the Safari Ball at the pokemon. The Safari Ball sucked the pokemon in. Cutter reached out and caught the ball before it could drop to the forest floor, but that was when it hit him that the pokemon he had just captured had not been the Darumaka that he had been chasing. This was a Pansage, and Cutter didn't remember seeing Pansage on the poster either. _But that Pansage had the same eyes as the Darumaka._ Cutter knew that both Darumaka and Pansage were from the Unova region, so he figured that had something to do with it. Or maybe it was something with the pokemon in the Safari Zone. He pushed the thought from his mind as he climbed back down. Maybe he had just been seeing things. _That's it,_ Cutter told himself. _Trick of the forest light._

Cutter checked his Pokedex for the time and realized that he only had twenty minutes left until the end of his time in the Safari Zone. He would have to wait until he got back to the Lobby to check out his newest capture.

When researching the Safari Zone the day before, he remembered reading that if you exited the Safari Zone after your six hours was up, that you had to pay an additional 500 pokedollars for the next six hours. Even with his money, Cutter didn't want to have to do that, and there was only one way Cutter was going to make it over two miles back to the gate in time to not have to pay that.

xx

Arbok crashed through the doors of the Safari Zone's Lobby right as the six hours were up. The older man talking to the receptionist looked up and smiled lightly before turning his attention back to his conversation.

Cutter stood up and smoothed out his clothes before turning and stroking Arbok, thanking her for the ride before returning her.

Cutter got in line behind the older gentleman, rolling the Safari Ball with Pansage around in his hands, as he waited to return the remaining Safari Balls and get the rest of his team back.

After a few minutes of chatter the older gentleman stepped to the side and Cutter stepped forward. He handed the receptionist the storage ball that held the remaining twenty-eight Safari Balls and she slid his pokemon back to him.

"Thank you Mr. Robinson. Did you catch anything?" she asked.

"Yes! A Pansage," Cutter replied.

The receptionist had a puzzled look on her face, but she quickly hid it behind a smile and said, "I need to register the capture in our system if I could just get the ball." Cutter handed her the ball and she set it on a pad that scanned it. She let out a small "ah" before handing the ball back to Cutter.

"What?" Cutter asked.

"A Pansage, you said?" the older man said, not giving the receptionist a chance to answer.

"Yes sir," Cutter replied, turning towards him.

"My name is Baoba Jr. I own the Safari Zone. I'm afraid we don't have an Pansage living here in this Safari Zone," Baoba Jr. said, his voice lively and joyful.

"But," Cutter stuttered, staring at the Safari Ball in his hand, "it was a Pansage."

Baoba Jr. smiled and squeezed Cutter's shoulder. "Things aren't always what they seem, are they Linda?" The receptionist smiled softly and shook her head. "Now why don't you let that pokemon out of its ball and see what you've actually caught."

Cutter rolled the Safari Ball over in his hands before enlarging it and releasing the pokemon inside. What came out was not a Pansage. It was not even a Darumaka. The pokemon that came out was a small, four legged pokemon with red accents on the tips of its feet and the tuft of hair on the top of its head. Two red puffs of fur sat between its eyes and it had a black scarf-like ring of hair around its neck. Other than that, it was a slate gray color.

"Zorua," Baoba Jr. said as Zorua glared up at Cutter with those same eyes he had seen in both the Darumaka and the Pansage. "Zorua are known as the Tricky Fox pokemon, and for good reason. Their ability is Illusion, which allows them to change their appearance to that of another pokemon, generally one they have recently seen. We just got this Zorua in from Unova, which explains why it transformed into a Pansage."

Cutter dropped slowly to his knees and held out his hand to Zorua, who ignored it, opting instead to continue the eye contact with Cutter. "I captured you, Zorua. I'm your trainer now. Me and the rest of my team are working to become the strongest we can be. Do you want to join us? I promise to help you get stronger than you ever could on your own." Zorua maintained eye contact for a moment longer before bowing its head and stepping towards Cutter, allowing him to pet it. Cutter smiled as he stroked the silky soft fur of his newest capture.

"Zorua are extremely prideful pokemon, as I'm sure you'll learn, but they are incredibly loyal as well. If you bond with it, it will be the most dedicated and trusting partner you could ever ask for," Baoba Jr. told him. Turning away he said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Robinson. If you are ever back in the area, please let me know. I would be delighted to see how your Zorua is getting along." And with that Baoba Jr. turned and walked out of the building, leaving Cutter alone with his Zorua and Linda the receptionist.

xx

Zorua, who ended up being called Dolos, was, as Cutter had figured he would be, quite devious. He wasn't devious in a mean way, he just liked to play tricks. It was in his nature. He was literally the Tricky Fox pokemon, plus he was dark type. There was no way he wasn't going to be devious.

He took quickly to Cutter, but he didn't get along with the rest of the team. He was constantly transforming into the rest of them, and after the first day, they were fed up. Even Nos, the most tolerant one on the team, had some problems with Zorua. Zorua was a dark type and Nos, thanks to his psychic typing, was unable to even touch him, so those problems were, Cutter figured, inevitable.

Dolos was young and inexperienced. As a result, he had a lot of catching up to do. Rillo and Dolos battled the same afternoon that Cutter got him and Rillo beat him soundly. Against Rillo, though, Dolos did not have his Illusion ability to lean on. Rillo knew that she was going to be battling Dolos. Cutter figured that when he was able to use his Illusion ability, the fight would be much closer. He did have a decent set of moves at his disposal, including fury swipes, pursuit, feint attack, dark pulse, and ember.

Unfortunately, not counting Bellow, Dolos was Cutter's seventh pokemon. That meant he had to send one back to the Day Care outside of Goldenrod. For now, he settled on Quagsire. He would bring Quagsire back for the gym battle, but until then, Quagsire just seemed like the best choice. He considered Arbok, but decided he didn't know how she would do around people she didn't know for long periods of time. Plus, they had just had an incredible bonding moment and Cutter didn't want to risk ruining it by sending her away. Then there was Silver, but he just couldn't bear to be apart from Silver. The day before the gym challenge, he would send Dolos to the Day Care and get Quagsire back, just for the afternoon of the challenge. Until then, Dolos was with him.

xx

Friday came more quickly than Cutter had expected, and he was sad to send Dolos away. Dolos had grown on him. Sure, his tricks could get tiresome, but he wasn't being cruel with them, just having fun.

He had warned Grace over the video phone that Dolos was a prankster, but Grace assured him that she could handle him. She also told him that Quagsire had been an absolute joy and that she looked forward to seeing him again.

xx

The next day, Cutter stood in front of the gym, feeling more prepared for a gym battle than he ever had before. Not only had he trained for hours each day, he had also done countless more hours of research on Chuck. Nothing could stop him.

He checked in with the boy at the front counter, Sam, and walked up to the doors that led to the battle field. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pushing them open and walking through, ready to take on Chuck.

xx

 **Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! Sorry it took me so long to get out another chapter, it's just been a rough summer. I know I always say "I'm going to have a lot more time to write now and the wait won't be as long," but it always is. So thanks for bearing with me! Like, comment and subscribe! I love hearing your feedback and thoughts! Peace.**


	16. Storm

Cutter's breath caught in his throat as he stepped into the room. Chuck, he wasn't terribly worried about. This crowd, however, was a different story. The stands on either side of the field were completely full, with people spilling out into the aisles and standing in every available space. He walked all the way to his battle box, but was hardly aware of what the referee was saying as he explained the conditions of the battle. The crowd was stealing all of his focus. He chanced a glance towards the stands again and once more, his breath caught in his throat. _Is that…? No, it couldn't be._ Cutter thought he saw a flash of familiar white blond hair, but decided it couldn't be. There were at least two thousand people in attendance and more than just one person could have that color hair. Cutter pushed the thought from his mind. The last thing he needed was another distraction.

Cutter looked across the field and saw Chuck staring back at him, his gaze harsh. Chuck was an older man, but that didn't mean he wasn't in shape. Chuck could put much younger bodybuilders to shame with his physique. Rumor had it that Chuck once wrestled a Machamp. And _won_. Cutter looked across and nodded, noticing the field for the first time. It was sandy with a few boulders in the corners closest to Chuck and there was a pond, too.

The younger trainer had prepared for Chuck. This was a fifth level battle, and Cutter felt that he had put in the appropriate amount of work and preparation. Chuck was a very straightforward battler, and his battle style didn't switch around much, so the battle videos that Cutter had watched showed one thing: Chuck was consistently good with the same strategies.

Cutter himself generally had very straightforward strategies as well, but he planned on changing that. _What better time to start than this gym battle?_ He had asked himself earlier in the week as he worked on some new strategies to help him deal with Chuck and his fighters.

He had a loose plan for how to deal with the Gym Leader, and Cutter had a pretty good idea as to what pokemon Chuck would bring, so he and his pokemon trained that week based on those pokemon.

"Begin!" called the referee.

Chuck released his pokemon first. Muscles the Machoke. It was one of Chuck's pokemon that Cutter was expecting to see this battle. Chuck often used Machoke in sixth level gym challenges. With its rippling gray muscles and angry grin, Cutter knew not to underestimate it. Muscles was strong and experienced, and in many of the videos Cutter watched, he was able to take down up to two of the challenger's pokemon before being taken down himself. That wasn't to say Muscles was without his weaknesses, however. He was a very straightforward pokemon and not terribly fast. Cutter knew exactly how to counter it.

Quagsire, his most defensive pokemon, appeared on the field in a flash of white. Cutter knew that he wanted to start with Quagsire. Quagsire was bulky and could take a lot of hits, plus he had some tricks of his own up his metaphorical sleeves.

Chuck gestured towards Cutter and the challenger took it to mean that Chuck was allowing him the first move. It seemed that Chuck was a man of few words.

Cutter forced a smile to his face as he pushed the audience from his mind and shouted, "Quagsire, muddy water!" The moment the command left his lips, his mind began to clear. The crowd no longer mattered. He was doing what he loved, what he was best at, and he didn't plan on letting a bunch of audience members stopping him from getting his fifth badge.

Quagsire threw his arms upward, and from the ground surged a wall of brown water that raced towards the opposing Machoke. Cutter didn't expect muddy water do a lot of damage. In fact, Cutter didn't expect a lot of Quagsire's long-range moves to do too much damage at all. He didn't necessarily want them to. Quagsire's job here was to pull Muscles in as close to him as possible.

Just as the murky water crashed down over Muscles, the fighting type pokemon leapt up from the surge towards Quagsire and cleared half the field in one bound, a testament to his strength. Just as Muscles landed, a water gun jetted towards him, and he ducked and rolled to avoid being blasted by the pressurized water.

Cutter smiled. As Quagsire used each move, Muscles got closer and closer. It didn't seem that Chuck or his pokemon had caught on. Cutter figured that Muscles would be the first pokemon that Chuck would send out. In mid-level gym challenges, he almost always was. Chuck, while strong, was relatively predictable

"Karate chop," Chuck bellowed, his first words of the battle were several minutes in.

Muscles, who was still twenty feet away, leapt forward and landed with a roll, popping up and slamming a karate chop into the top of Quagsire's head. Quagsire stumbled slightly, but his body was made up almost entirely of water, so the momentary pain did almost no lasting damage.

Quagsire knew the plan, and Cutter was counting on his pokemon to follow through with it on his own. For Cutter to have to yell it out to Quagsire was to give both Muscles and Chuck a chance to escape, and that was not something Cutter wanted to happen. He likely only had one chance at this, and he didn't want to waste it. Quagsire was not exactly a smart pokemon, so Cutter had come up with the strategy early in the week and worked it with Quagsire over and over and over again so that the Water Fish pokemon could not possibly get it wrong.

Cutter waited with baited breath as Quagsire simply stood there, taking in the assault of karate chops. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Quagsire opened his mouth as wide as he could and, with a massive " _Quaaag,"_ yawned.

It was too late for Chuck to call out a command for his pokemon to get away even if he wanted to. The Machoke was yawning as well. And that meant he had less than thirty seconds until he was asleep. The time to fall asleep because of the move yawn varied from pokemon to pokemon, but it was almost always thirty seconds or less. Pokemon with extremely powerful will power could last close to a minute, maybe even two, but eventually they would succumb to the drowsiness. And by the time that a pokemon lasted for almost two minutes, they were practically useless. The drowsiness made them unable to follow commands correctly, and their coordination and movements were completely skewed.

But Chuck was not an ordinary trainer and Muscles was not an ordinary Machoke. Chuck knew how to get out of situations like this. He had been a gym leader for nearly forty years. He wasn't new to the game.

"Flee and wake-up slap," Chuck called out.

Cutter bit his lip as the Machoke raised his hands to slap himself. Cutter had watched enough battle videos to know that this Machoke knew wake-up slap. Quagsire just had to keep going with the plan.

Muscles, just barely starting to show signs of drowsiness, leapt backwards, but Quagsire swept out with his tail, knocking Machoke off his feet, the Machoke's face slamming into the dirt.

The key now was to not let Machoke use wake-up slap. But to make matters more complicated, Quagsire could not use any of his elemental moves. Mud bomb had water like properties and both muddy water and water gun were water based, and Cutter had seen amateur trainers use moves like yawn and follow up with a water or electric move before the pokemon was asleep, which only succeeded in pulling the pokemon out of their drowsiness. When Machoke did fall asleep, those water moves were safe to use, but until then, Quagsire had to be more resourceful.

Before Machoke had the chance to rise, Quagsire jumped on top of him and wrapped his rubbery blue arms around the Superpower pokemon, pinning the Machoke's arms to his side. But Machoke wasn't called the Superpower pokemon for nothing. Muscles flexed his huge arms and headbutted Quagsire in the face. Disoriented, Quagsire fell off of the fighting type, giving Muscles the split second he needed to flee.

But Cutter had to give Quagsire credit. Even in a daze, Quagsire's battle reactions were incredible. He fired a quick water gun at the ground and Machoke slipped in the mud. He was asleep the moment he hit the ground.

But now, only half the battle was won. From the battle videos, Cutter knew that Muscles knew both snore and sleep-talk. Snore, Cutter wasn't so worried about. It was sleep-talk that would be the real problem. Sleep-talk was a move that pokemon could use, and it basically just let them use a move while they were asleep, but they didn't have any control over what move it might be. If Chuck got lucky and sleep-talk turned into wake-up slap, Cutter was back at square one. Cutter and Quagsire had to finish this before Machoke had a chance to wake back up.

"Hydro pump!" Cutter yelled. He and Quagsire had been working on that over the last few days, and while it wasn't perfected, it was considerably stronger than water gun. The highly pressurized burst of water shot from Quagsire's open mouth and the blue stream slammed into the sleeping Machoke, throwing him across the field.

"Snore!" Chuck called.

Muscles opened his mouth and from it came not what Cutter would describe as a snore, but instead an ear shattering roar. Cutter clapped his hands to his ears and all around the stands Cutter saw people doing the same.

Quagsire as a species have notoriously bad eyesight. They inhabit lakes and ponds with murky waters, so sight does them no good, so as a result their senses of hearing and touch are enhanced, so sound based moves were particularly painful to the Water Fish pokemon.

Cutter watched as Quagsire covered his head with his thick blue arms, trying to block out the sound.

"Quagsire," Cutter yelled out over the snore, "mud bomb!" He could only hope that Quagsire heard him as his pokemon continued to writhe on the field.

A few seconds later a ball of mud appeared in the Quagsire's mouth, smaller than usual, and he launched it across the field. It collided with the sleeping Machoke and the ear-splitting screech that was the move snore instantly ended.

Quagsire dropped to his knees, panting. Apparently, the snore had hurt him far more than Cutter realized it would. Cutter's hopes of Quagsire getting out of this first battle unscathed were not going to be happening. The most he could wish for was that Quagsire end it before Machoke could use snore again.

"Are you okay?" Cutter called out. Quagsire lifted his head and nodded at his trainer, a determination in his gaze that Cutter had never seen before. Without waiting for a command from his trainer, Quagsire pulled a muddy water up from the field and surfed on it towards Muscles.

The water surged over the field and Quagsire leapt from it and used the force from the water to use slam into the Machoke's back before using that momentum to propel himself into the air.

Cutter had no choice but to marvel at Quagsire, who fired a water gun from the sky into Muscles's face. Quagsire was a relatively large, hefty pokemon. The fact that Quagsire was creating enough force with his attacks to stay airborne had Cutter impressed. He would never underestimate Quagsire again.

"Mud bomb!" Cutter called right as Chuck yelled, "sleep talk!"

Quagsire landed right as Machoke was standing up to use whatever move the sleep talk had procured. A huge brown ball of mud, larger than any Cutter had ever seen Quagsire produced, formed in the Water Fish's mouth. He released it just as Machoke was leaping forward. The mud bomb exploded, but Machoke flew through it and began punching and kicking Quagsire with every appendage he had, as hard as he could.

Cutter gulped. Close combat. As defensive as Quagsire was, there was no way that he could take a close combat from a Muscles that was as well trained as this one was for more than a few seconds. Quagsire was holding on, but Cutter didn't know how much longer he could.

Cutter racked his brain, but he couldn't think of anything to do. Both water gun and hydro pump were out of the question, as was mud bomb. Quagsire couldn't keep his mouth open long enough to fire off any of those moves. Every time he tried, Muscles slammed it back shut with a well-placed punch. In order for Quagsire to use muddy water, he had to lift his hands, and Quagsire's arms and hands were busy trying to block all of the punches. Slam wouldn't work because he had to spin around to use his tail, and Machoke wasn't going to give him that opportunity.

The right move hit both Cutter and Quagsire at the same time, because the moment Cutter thought _Earthquake_ , Quagsire slammed his tail into the ground, and the entire battlefield began shifting and rolling with the force of the ground type move. Even Quagsire, who normally could have guided the earthquake away from him, didn't have that luxury because Muscles was too close to him. To protect himself would be risking protecting Muscles as well.

Muscles, his sleep talk move only working to help him use moves, not to navigate earthquakes, was thrown around by the tumultuous field.

"Snore," Chuck yelled, but it was no use. Muscles couldn't do anything being thrown around as he was, and every time that it seemed as if the earthquake would die down, Quagsire would slam his tail into the field again, starting it afresh. And now that the Machoke had been thrown away from Quagsire, he was able to keep the earth around him steady.

When Quagsire finally did allow the earthquake to end, Muscles had woken up. He stood up unsteadily and took a single step forward before collapsing back down onto the field, unable to battle, his body covered in bruises and his face appeared to be bleeding ever so slightly.

"Good job Quagsire!" Cutter cheered as Chuck returned the Machoke. Cutter looked around the destroyed battlefield. Between the multiple muddy waters, mud bombs, and the most recent earthquake, the battle field looked like a war zone, and in some ways, Cutter supposed that it was. There were huge puddles of water littered around and cracks that ran the entire length of the field. There was not a single foot of even field anymore, Quagsire had made sure of that. Cutter frowned slightly. This field wouldn't be good for Rillo. All of his other pokemon could make do, but Rillo was his weakest pokemon and an electric type. These field conditions were less than ideal for her. He pushed the thought from his mind. _I'll focus on that when I have to._

He looked to Quagsire who was worse for wear. Even though he had won the battle, he had taken a beating in the match up. Machoke had not let him off easy, and that last close combat had taken its toll. Quagsire was standing, but barely it seemed. He was breathing heavily and one of his arms looked like it might be broken, but Cutter prayed to Arceus that it wasn't. _Could Quagsire's bones break?_ He didn't know.

"Quagsire do you want to come in?" Cutter asked, knowing the answer before Quagsire even answered.

Quagsire looked at his trainer and shook his head defiantly as he made his way back to his side of the field. Cutter had expected that, and he couldn't help but respect and love Quagsire. They hadn't been together even a month yet, and already Quagsire was immensely loyal and a great friend.

The referee shouted for Chuck to release his next pokemon, and in front of the brawny gym leader appeared an orange and red fire-fighting type with a flame on the end of its tail. Cutter knew it to be a Monferno named Mono, in the evolutionary line of the Sinnoh starters. The final evolution, Infernape, looked extremely similar to Patriot. More than likely, they had the same common ancestor.

But Cutter was confused as to why Chuck would pick a fire pokemon to take on Quagsire. Both Quagsire's water and ground typing were super effective against Monferno's fire typing. But Chuck was an experienced gym leader and battler. Cutter had to stay on his guard. If Chuck thought it was best to send out a fire type against a water and ground type, then he obviously had a plan. Cutter just didn't know what exactly it was.

He had seen Mono in the battle videos he had been watching that week, but he wasn't expecting to see one today. Mono was usually only used in the lower level battles. The highest Cutter saw it used was a fourth level, and that was still one level under this. Maybe it had just gotten too strong for those.

Even then, Cutter had never seen it used against water types before. It was always used as a fast sweeper later in the battles. It came in and wrapped up weakened pokemon late in the game. Sure, Quagsire was weakened, but it was still Cutter's first pokemon of six. It wasn't late in the game at all. And since the Monferno was usually used as a late game pokemon, Cutter found himself getting worried. Was this Chuck telling him that this was the end?

"Begin!" the referee called, pulling Cutter from his worrying. Worry wasn't going to help him win the battle. He couldn't control what Chuck did or why he did it. He had to focus on his own pokemon and their strategies. Unfortunately, none of his strategies dealt with Monferno. Luckily, Monferno was extra weak to Quagsire. Cutter smiled. Whatever strategy Chuck had wouldn't be working.

Chuck took the liberty of going first this time, and the Monferno's body erupted into flames as he ran towards Quagsire. _Flame charge._ Flame charge was a move that heated up the user's body, loosening its muscles and allowing it to move faster than it would previously have been able to.

Luckily for Cutter, the field was too destroyed for Mono to truly build up any kind of meaningful speed. But that didn't stop the Monferno from trying, and regardless he was going to be faster than Quagsire.

"Mud bomb!" Cutter could tell Quagsire was tired by the size of the mud bomb that Quagsire threw. It was barely the size of Cutter's head, and it missed Mono wildly. Whether that was because of the Monferno's speed or Quagsire's fatigue, Cutter couldn't tell.

"Finish it!" Chuck said simply, no further explanation.

Mono leapt over a water gun that Quagsire shot at him and landed deftly behind Quagsire. Mono slammed his fist into the ground and just as Quagsire turned to face the fire type, four thick grass-like vines snaked out of the ground and wrapped around Quagsire's ankles.

Quagsire lost his balance and fell. Mono capitalized and more of the vines came from the earth, all of them wrapping around Quagsire's lower half. Quagsire tried to aim a water gun at Mono, but he just danced away from it with a flame charge, making him even faster.

Cutter returned Quagsire. There was nothing more the Water Fish pokemon could do, and he now saw why Chuck chose the Monferno. Mono was much faster than Quagsire. Normally Quagsire could use earthquake or muddy water to keep Mono at bay, but Quagsire was too exhausted to use either of those moves, and Mono was much too fast for the tired Quagsire's other elemental moves. Plus, Mono had grass knot, a super effective move that did more damage to the target the more it weighed. Quagsire was four times weak to grass type moves, not to mention he wasn't exactly light. It was brilliantly played on Chuck's part.

Mono was too fast. He had been using flame charge practically the whole time he had been in, and Cutter had no idea how to counter it. _Unless_. It was a long shot, but it was all he could think of.

"Rillo!" Cutter called out, releasing the Flaaffy onto the destroyed battlefield. Rillo knew what her purpose would be in this gym battle. She was supposed to thunder wave whatever pokemon she was facing.

The bulb on Rillo's tail glowed a bright blue and the battle field around her began jumping with electricity. Rillo knew to bring up electric terrain the moment the battle began. While Rillo hadn't learned any new moves, Cutter had been working on the longevity and strength of her electric moves, and it showed. Rillo's electric terrain extended farther in any direction than it ever had before. Even with the wreckage of the battle field, Rillo was able to put up an impressive electric terrain. There was another trick Rillo had been working on that Cutter just couldn't wait to try out. All Mono had to do was step into the electric terrain. And considering that Cutter knew this Monferno to be a mostly close-range fighter, he knew it wouldn't be long until he did.

Mono ran in close, but stayed just outside of the edge of the electric terrain, blasting a flamethrower at Rillo, who countered it with a thunderbolt of her own, the result being a thick black cloud of smoke.

The two tested each other for a while like this. Mono danced around the electric terrain, throwing mud slaps or flamethrowers at Rillo, who in turn countered them with charge beams. Cutter wanted her to use as many charge beams as she could during this battle in order to build up her electricity, and it was working. The wool on Rillo's head and around her neck was bristling with electricity.

Apparently, Mono got bored of this because he sped into the confines of the electric terrain with a mach punch. With the combined speed of mach punch and the numerous flame charges, sped in and landed a punch to Rillo's chest, knocking the Flaaffy over, eliciting a pained " _laaa_ ," from the electric type.

"Get out!" Chuck roared at Mono, but not fast enough. Rillo hit the ground with her tail and Cutter's whole body tensed as he waited to see if their strategy would work. A small surge of electricity leapt from the ground where Mono was standing and encompassed the Monferno before passing through his fur and into his body. Cutter smiled and pumped his fist into the air. It had worked. Mono was paralyzed. As much as Mono had built up its speed, it didn't matter anymore. The stiffness in its muscles would end up making it much harder for the Playful pokemon to move, therefore evening the playing field. Whatever disadvantage Rillo had been at before was now nullified and she had a real shot to win her battle.

All week Cutter and Rillo had been working on using electric moves not from her body, but instead from the electric terrain that surrounded her. By putting all of her focus into one spot within the electric terrain, she could essentially make that spot an extension of her body, and electric moves would work like that instead.

They had mostly worked on thunder wave, since paralyzing the opponent was Rillo's main job in the battle, but they had tested charge beam and thunderbolt as well. Thunder wave was the easiest, though, since it required the least amount of electricity to use.

Mono pushed himself back up and jumped out of the edges of electric terrain before the battle field could hurt him anymore. Mono's body was stiffer now, Cutter noticed, his movements forced. He smiled. He was proud of his Flaaffy.

"Charge beam," Cutter called as Flaaffy pushed herself to her feet. Her tail glowed blue and from her body flowed a charge beam that could rival her thunderbolts. Mono tried to dodge, but the thunder wave had already taken effect and his muscles weren't responding like they should. The charge beam collided with his chest, throwing him backwards across the field.

Mono stood shakily as electricity danced across his orange fur, but Rillo didn't give him time to relax. She fired another charge beam at him, and he barely was able to duck under it before Rillo used charge beam again, this one hitting, making him fall. He stayed there for a second before pushing himself back up. This time, there was no electricity dancing across his fur, and Cutter saw a fire in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

 _Blaze_ , Cutter realized. Monferno's ability. When the Playful pokemon got weak enough, his fire type moves power doubled.

"Flame wheel," Chuck commanded.

Mono's body was engulfed in flames that rose at least fifteen feet up into the air as he pushed away the effects of paralysis. Cutter frowned. He had not accounted for this, and now all the work towards getting Mono paralyzed was for naught.

Mono threw himself forward, the flames spinning around him as he ran towards Rillo.

"Flash!" Cutter yelled. A blinding light exploded from Rillo and Cutter shielded his eyes just in time. As he waited for the light to die down he just had to hope that Rillo had been able to dodge in time. When he opened them a few seconds later, Mono was kneeling where Rillo had been just moments before. Rillo had dodged and was now firing a charge beam into the Monferno's exposed back.

The electricity slammed into Mono's back, knocking him over. It appeared to have done some decent damage, but now Rillo had given her location away to the Playful pokemon.

Mono leapt up and, covering its body in pure blue flames that spread out twenty feet in every direction, ran at Rillo. Cutter could feel the heat from the flames even from where he was standing. This time Rillo didn't have time to use flash and dodge, so Cutter yelled "thunderbolt" hoping she did have time for that.

" _LAAAA,"_ Rillo screamed as the fire surrounding Mono engulfed her. The Monferno slammed into the Flaaffy just as a yellow blast of electricity erupted from Rillo. The field instantly filled up with smoke from the super powered fire and electric collision, the effects of which left the hair on Cutter's arms standing straight up. It took a moment for the smoke to clear, but when it did, both Mono and Rillo were lying unconscious.

Cutter smiled softly and returned Rillo before placing her pokeball back on his belt. She did better than he expected she would.

The battle was all tied up. Cutter and Chuck would be releasing their pokemon at the same time, and for the first time this battle, Cutter was going in blind. He had no idea what Chuck would send in. He had his guesses, but that's all that they were. Guesses.

He pulled a pokeball off of his belt and waited for the referee's signal to release his next pokemon. When the referee dropped the flag, both Cutter and Chuck tossed their pokeballs onto the field. On Cutter's end came Silver. From Chuck's end came Heracross. The navy bug and fighting type looked mean. This was a pokemon that Cutter had been expecting. Heracross was almost always used in Chuck's fifth and sixth level gym challenges, and Cutter didn't expect this one to be any different.

"Begin!" called the referee.

Heracross didn't waste any time in unfurling his wings from his back and buzzing into the air. "Dammit," muttered Cutter. It didn't look like his stealth rock and rock tomb would be of much help here, either. _Or will it?_ Cutter asked himself, an idea coalescing in his mind.

"Stealth rock!" Cutter called.

Silver rumbled and with a jerk of his gray body, ten giant stones flew upwards from the ground around Silver. The gray chunks of rock floated there, suspended by some force unknown to Cutter. The stones each had about two feet of space between the next, and across the circle, the diameter was close to fifteen feet, with Silver sitting in the very center. The stones were too close together for Heracross to get through them, and there wasn't enough space under them for Heracross to squeeze through. That only left one way to get to Silver. In order to get close, Heracross would have to come from above, and Silver would be ready.

"Brick break," Chuck called. Apparently, he didn't care that there was only one way for Heracross to get to Silver. He was going to take whatever risk there might be.

Heracross buzzed in, but when he reached the stones, instead of flying towards Silver, he folded up his wings and simply dropped, aimed towards the ground like a bullet, allowing gravity to do the work for him.

Silver launched a rock throw, but Heracross twisted expertly around the brown hunk of stone, and the rock flew harmlessly past as Heracross continued to fall, just a navy blur in the air. Silver used rock throw again, but Heracross twisted around it once more before finally reaching Silver. Heracross landed deftly on the ground and struck out with a brick break. With a crack, Silver flew backwards from the force of the move and slammed into one of the floating stones before falling to the ground.

Silver was resilient, though, and the super effective move was not enough to knock him out. He pushed himself up and with a rumble used pressurized air to launch himself forward. Heracross stood his ground, focused on nothing but the Pupitar flying toward him, which is exactly what Silver wanted. Pupitar stopped suddenly and slammed the base of his cocoon-like shell into the ground and a huge gray slab of rock jutted out of the ground and slammed into Heracross's back, throwing the bug forward toward Silver. The unsuspecting Heracross attempted to right itself by unfurling its wings, but Silver was ready with a rock throw that clipped the Heracross's left wing, sending him crashing to the ground, rendering his flight all but useless.

" _Thooom,"_ Silver rumbled as he lunged forward with a bulldoze. Heracross greeted the assault with a megahorn, locking the two in a stalemate. They pushed back against each other, neither willing to give an inch. Unfortunately, Heracross had four extra appendages that Silver didn't, and Heracross meant to make use of them.

Heracross lashed out with another brick break, and with a rumble Silver pushed himself backwards, barely dodging the fighting type attack before retaliating with a rock throw that the Heracross broke into dust.

Heracross leapt forward and swiped out with brick break with his left arm. Silver was quick to pull up a rock not as an attack but as a barrier to protect his right side, but Heracross feinted back right and connected a brick break into Silver's unprotected left side.

Silver went down and Cutter was worried his starter wouldn't get back up. But yet again, Silver righted himself, unwilling to give in. The Heracross watched him warily but allowed the Pupitar to rise fully.

The two sized each other up and Cutter bit his lip nervously. Then they went back at it. Heracross made the first move, lunging forward with a horn glowing green with megahorn, the strongest bug type move. Silver was ready, though, and twisted, Heracross hurtling past him before the Pupitar pulled a spire of rock out of the ground directly under the bug type. The rock tomb slammed into Heracross's unprotected underbelly and threw him high into the air, above the floating rocks.

Cutter heard the crowd cheer, but he pushed them from his mind.

Heracross unfurled his wings and tried to slow his descent back to the ground, but his left wing was useless. With a pained " _herc,"_ Heracross forced his right wing to work double and make up for the lack of left wing in order to get him into the dive bomb maneuver. It was shaky, but it worked.

 _The rock throws didn't work last time. No point in trying that again._ "Screech," Cutter called. Silver let loose an ear-piercing screech just as Heracross was reaching the ground. Instead of sticking his landing, Heracross stumbled, the screech making him drop his guard and cover his ears in pain.

Silver capitalized and rushed forward on a bulldoze, the earth rising propelling the Pupitar forward, that led into thrash. Silver slammed into Heracross with everything that he had, over and over until Chuck called out "Counter." Cutter's face paled. Chuck had been waiting for this, letting his Heracross take the damage in order to fire it back at Silver with double the power. The Heracross's horn glowed a bright white and Silver stopped his assault, trying to push himself backwards with a _"thooom_ ," but it was too late.

Heracross lunged forward and, with a devastating crack, slammed his horn downwards into Silver's face, immediately knocking Silver unconscious, the stealth rocks falling around them as the pokemon holding them up was no longer able to battle.

Cutter returned his starter and frowned. He was down, three to two. Chuck, who had started off on the lower end, had slowly come back, and now he, the gym leader, was in the lead. Cutter knew that Chuck often counted on starting off extremely well, and then finishing strong. Chuck didn't always battle his best in the middle of battles, but it seemed that was the exact opposite of what was happening. Chuck hadn't started his best, but here he was in the third battle, winning.

Cutter grit his teeth and pulled a great ball off of his belt. He couldn't use Nostradamus yet. Heracross's bug typing would tear Nostradamus's psychic typing apart, and he wanted to save Patriot for later. Arbok was integral for what Cutter figured Chuck's last pokemon would be. But the other two couldn't be shown yet. Arbok it was, then.

He released the Cobra pokemon onto the field as Heracross made its way back to its trainer's side.

The referee called out "begin" and Cutter wasted no time.

"Dig," he said. Arbok tensed its muscular purple body before digging into the ground below as easily as if the field were made of butter. "Now coil."

The idea was for Arbok to build up its strength and defenses while underground and not have to worry about Heracross attacking while she did. But Chuck had other plans because he called out "earthquake."

Heracross, who was looking considerably more tired than he had before his battle with Pupitar, slammed his horn into the ground, and the field began shifting and rolling. It wasn't anywhere near as strong as Quagsire's had been, partly because Heracross wasn't ground type, and partly because of how tired Heracross was. Nevertheless, it had the intended effect. The super effective move drove Arbok from the ground, and she came up hissing, angry at being brought back to the surface before she was ready.

She continued using coil, forcing Heracross to bridge the gap between them. Heracross did it slowly, however. Cutter noticed that the Single Horn pokemon was limping. He smiled. While Silver may not have won the battle, he had done his job well. It should be easy for Arbok to take Heracross down.

"Megahorn!" Chuck yelled, knowing his fighting type moves would be practically useless, with the exception of counter. His bug type moves wouldn't be much better, but if any of them were going to work, it was going to be megahorn.

"Keep on the move. Heracross is tired, but he knows counter, so don't stay in one place for too long. Attack and then get out of there," Cutter yelled. She responded with a flick of her tail. Even though Arbok was at full strength with heightened attack and defense, he knew that counter did not pay attention to those things, nor did it pay attention to type advantage. If she got hit with counter, she was practically done for, and Cutter needed Arbok for the late game.

Heracross lunged in, his horn glowing green, but Arbok was too quick, twisting her trunk-like body out of the way before shooting a poison sting at Heracross's open back, the purple poison filled needles bouncing harmlessly off of Heracross's hard shelled back.

"Taunt," Chuck called. Heracross turned and waved its horn at Arbok, taunting her into fighting.

"Arbok, no!" Cutter yelled desperately, but it was no use. Arbok was easy enough to goad into a fight without using the move taunt. With the move taunt, Arbok had no chance.

She sprung forward and just as Heracross swung at her with a brick break, his arm glowing white, she dove underground, immediately erupting out from underneath Heracross, sending the bug type flying.

Arbok hissed and flicked her tail as she slithered in slowly towards the bug and fighting type. Heracross forced himself back up and Arbok bared her razor-sharp fangs, daring him to attack.

Heracross swung his arm and used mud slap, throwing the mud from the ruined battle field into Arbok's eyes. Temporarily blinded, Arbok swayed, trying to get the mud from her eyes, and Heracross took the opportunity to slam a megahorn into her chest before following it up with a brick break to her skull.

Arbok lashed out, her jaws snapping shut on thin air. She still couldn't see. Cutter balled and unballed his fists, anxious, his blood pumping. What could she do if she couldn't see?

"Dig!" Cutter called.

Arbok sprung forward go make her way underground, but Heracross grabbed the unsuspecting Arbok by the tail and pulled her backwards, brick breaking the top of her head, and fleeing away.

But Arbok wasn't going to be taken advantage of again. She struck out with her tail, this time catching the Heracross in the back. Heracross stumbled and Arbok, the mud finally fallen away from her eyes, threw a sludge bomb into Heracross's face, the poisonous purple liquid making the fighter cry out, before finishing the battle with a well-placed slam.

Chuck returned Heracross and immediately sent out Croagunk, another Sinnoh pokemon. The purple, bipedal poison and fighting type was a good choice on Chuck's part. His typing effectively neutralized all of Arbok's attacks. None of her poison type moves would do much damage, nor would her dark type moves like bite, but the joke was on Chuck. Cutter wanted to save Arbok for the Leader's final pokemon. She had another job to do. This worked out perfectly for him.

"I would like to use my switch," Cutter said to the referee.

"Go ahead," he replied.

"You'll be back out, Arbok," Cutter promised the Cobra pokemon as he returned her.

"Nos, you're up!" Cutter called out, releasing his Girafarig onto the field.

The crowd "ooohed" and "aahed" at the sight of the albino pokemon, but Chuck simply maintained his steely gaze and nodded.

Cutter and Nostradamus' eyes flashed red, indicating the psychic link and the crowd went wild again. Cutter wondered how they could possibly see something like that, but as he turned to look at them, he caught a glimpse of himself on a giant screen behind him that he hadn't seen before. Looking at himself magnified by ten made his stomach do somersaults, and not the good kind. Giant Cutter looked puzzled. He scrunched his eyebrows together and the Cutter on the screen did the same, giving Cutter a moment of panic. _Calm down. You've been up there the whole time. You're fine._ His stomach still churning, Cutter turned around to face the battle field.

As he turned, he felt peace wash over him. _Thank you, Nos._

 _Of course, Father. We have a battle to win._ Cutter smiled. Nostradamus was a pokemon after his own heart.

Nos pawed the ground, his tail end head letting out a slight whinny as the referee signaled for them to begin.

Cutter doubted putting his opponent to sleep would work twice in one battle, but he figured he might as well try.

 _Get closer and use hypnosis._ Nos's tail end acknowledged him with a nod as he slowly navigated his way over the rugged field.

Agility would be no help, there was no point in Nos getting faster on terrain as uneven as this. _But nasty plot_ , Cutter thought.

Nos stopped and closed his eyes, letting out a soft " _RIAAA_ ," his body shuddering slightly,before opening them again.

Croagunk, tired of waiting, ran in close and leapt at Nos, who levitated backwards to avoid the poison type's glowing purple arm. Croagunk landed but immediately leapt again, and Nos was forced to catch and throw him in midair with confusion.

The Croagunk twisted in midair and landed unscathed, leaping after Nos again, this time both of his arms glowing purple as poison dripped heavily off of them.

Cutter grit his teeth. Nos had to be focused to use hypnosis, but that could backfire. If Croagunk avoids Nos's eyes, then Nos won't have time to flee and Croagunk will get off not one but two poison jabs. _I can't risk it. Nos, forget hypnosis. All-out offensive._

Nos avoided Croagunk's twin poison jab attack and used psybeam, which Croagunk avoided with a backwards leap.

The two took a moment to size each other up before Croagunk's orange cheek pouches swelled and then from his mouth, he released a brown poison that Nos deflected with confusion before firing off a psybeam. Croagunk was forced to flee to avoid the super effective move, but as the Croagunk ran, Nos split into six illusory copies, each as convincing as the last, all of them surrounding the fighting and poison type.

Croagunk looked around wildly as all of the copies including the real Nos loosed psybeams at him, but right at the last second, Croagunk disappeared into six illusory copies of his own.

Cutter smirked. Nos's psychic ability would be more than enough to tell which was the real Croagunk.

Just as soon as Cutter's smirk appeared, it vanished. Around each Croagunk's body appeared a shimmering dark energy, and Cutter knew all too well what that was. Feint Attack. Nos would be unable to tell which was which with this dark type energy.

Dark types, for whatever reason, were completely immune to any sort of psychic ability. Normally where Nos would see the Croagunk, there would simply be a blip in Nos's so called 'radar.' There was nothing Nos could do to detect him with his mind. It was all up to his other five senses.

But Croagunk didn't know which Girafarig was the real one, either, so there was that little bit of relief, for the moment at least.

Every Girafarig lifted onto their hind two legs to use stomp as each Croagunk ran in with feint attack. One by one the Girafarig copies disappeared, and only one was left standing, while only one Croagunk copy disappeared: the one that had targeted the real Nostradamus.

All the other copies of Croagunk vanished as the real one fired a sludge bomb at Nostradamus. Nos deflected it with confusion, but barely had a second before there was another, and another, and another, and while firing all of these sludge bombs, Croagunk was getting steadily closer and closer to the Girafarig.

Cutter racked his brain, trying to think of what to do. To even try to use another move would be to open Nos up to a sludge bomb, and if Nos fled, then Croagunk would just follow

Luckily, Nos was much smarter than Cutter, because just as Croagunk fired another sludge bomb, Nos simultaneously stopped that one with a confusion, but also picked up the huge pile of poison that had accumulated off to the side and slammed that into Croagunk, knocking him off his feet. Due to Croagunk's poison typing and natural immunity to most poisons it didn't do much damage, but it did give Nos the break he needed to shatter Croagunk's momentum.

Nos pawed the ground and picked up Croagunk with confusion, pulling the Croagunk over to him, the pink and purple psy energy shimmering around the poison and fighting type. Just as Croagunk got in front of Nos, he disappeared from the confusion in a haze of dark type energy.

"Dammit," Cutter muttered under his breath. He didn't realize that Croagunk would be able to use feint attack while trapped within the confusion.

Croagunk slid between Nos's legs and landed several poison jabs into Nos's unprotected underbelly. " _Riiiaaa,"_ Nos whinnied in pain as the poison entered her system and stumbled as Croagunk fled from between Nos's back legs.

But Croagunk had forgotten one important detail. Nos had another head, and that head clamped down on the Croagunk's arm, giving Nos a chance to grab it with a confusion. Cutter was afraid that it would try to escape with another feint attack, and it did. But right when the dark energy started shimmering around Croagunk, it was like a whole new dimension opened inside of Cutter's mind. Suddenly he was seeing the same things Nos was seeing, and instead of seeing a blip where Croagunk and the dark type energy should be, he instead saw a mass of black. The dark type energy was fully visible and concentrated in Nos's mind's eye. Cutter didn't know what was happening.

The dark type energy disappeared from around Croagunk's purple body as he writhed and flailed in the pink psy energy that was holding him in the air, but Nos's steely resolve and mental willpower held the struggling pokemon strong, constantly contorting him and forcing pressure on him from all sides.

Cutter shuddered. This new feeling in his mind was more intense than anything he had ever felt before. In some ways, he felt powerful, but in other ways he was scared. Very scared. These were things he shouldn't be seeing, experiencing. But Cutter forced himself to focus on the battle. Those were Nostradamus's thoughts he was feeling. Not his own.

Nos flicked his head toward the ceiling, and Croagunk flew upwards before Nos slammed him back down into the ground, the Croagunk's purple body creating a dust cloud where it landed. Again, Nos flicked his head and again Croagunk flew up, and back down. But before Croagunk could hit the ground again, he disappeared into his pokeball.

 _What was that?_ Cutter asked as he fell to his knees, mentally exhausted. Cutter realized that this must be how tired Nos was.

 _Miracle Eye. It allows my psychic abilities to target dark types._

 _But…_ Cutter found himself at a loss, _how did you learn it?_

 _I mastered the one ability you wanted me to learn rather easily, so I decided to teach myself Miracle Eye. It was difficult, but I managed. I would use your red box at night when you were asleep to watch videos and learn. Then during the day, I would practice. This is the first time that I was able to use it masterfully. I practiced with the Illusory One,_ Nos told him, anticipating his next question. _But it is not easy and it takes a lot out of me. I can keep going, Father, but I am weakened. I hope you will not be disappointed with me._

 _Disappointed? Nos, no. That was incredible. I have never been more proud of you._

Cutter felt the warmth of love and appreciation rush over him, and Cutter was sure that Nos was feeling those same things as Chuck released his next pokemon onto the field. The brown and blue bipedal pokemon that appeared resembled a spinning top, hence its name of Hitmontop.

Cutter smiled. Taps the Hitmontop was yet another pokemon he had been expecting. Taps was a staple of Chuck's mid-level gym challenges, and this one was no exception. Hitmontop, while not the strongest of all fighting types, was more unique than most. Hitmontop was one of three possible evolutions from the baby pokemon Tyrogue. When Tyrogue hit a certain point in its training, if it had been trained to be more of an attacker, it evolved into Hitmonlee. If it had been trained to be more defensive, it evolved into Hitmonchan. But, if it had been trained to be equally as skilled in both attacking and defending, it evolved into Hitmontop.

Nos and Taps stared across the field at each other, each sizing the other up. Taps swayed back and forth, swinging its arms, staying in a constant state of motion while Nostradamus looked across regally.

 _Can I begin this?_

Cutter smiled. _Be my guest._

Nos stepped forward, and at the same time Taps slammed its fist into the ground. The earth rumbled and turned into a weakened version of earthquake. Nos levitated to avoid it, and Taps leapt forward, landing on the point that jut out from its head and began spinning rapidly towards Nostradamus. His entire body was a blue and brown blur as he navigated the ruined field expertly.

Then, the Hitmontop disappeared. Cutter barely had time to think _Where_ before Taps slammed into Nos, throwing the albino pokemon sideways.

 _Quick attack_ , Cutter thought at Nos fired a psybeam at Hitmontop, who was forced to abandon the rolling kick he was trying to use in order to avoid being hit by the psy energy.

With his spinning techniques combined with quick attack, Taps was an expert at. Every move that Nos tried to hit him with, Taps was able to deftly and gracefully avoid it. If Cutter wasn't trying to beat the pokemon, he would have been entranced by the way it moved. Nos, on the other hand, was having serious trouble avoiding the fighting type's attacks. The Hitmontop was able to move over the rugged terrain much more easily than the Girafarig was, due to his four legs and heavier weight.

 _Nos, levitate. Stop trying to dodge on the ground._

At his trainer's command, Nostradamus lifted a few inches off the ground, making Hitmontop misjudge the correct height for a mach punch, and he flew under Nos, who slammed a stomp into the back of his head, sending him sprawling into the dirt.

Taps' spinning didn't help when he was held within the confines of Nostradamus's confusion. Nos picked up Hitmontop and applied huge amounts of pressure from each side, twisting him and contorting him every which way.

Nos twisted Taps around to face him, and the fighting type's fist glowed black with dark type energy. Hitmontop threw himself forward out of the confusion and slammed his fist into the underside of Nos's jaw, actually managing to throw him several feet up into the air before he crashed back down onto the field.

 _Sucker punch_ , Cutter realized. _No wonder confusion didn't hold it._ Sucker punch was a dark type move that only worked if the opposing pokemon was either using a move or about to use a move on the pokemon using sucker punch. Since Nos was using confusion on Taps, the fighting type was able to use sucker punch. _That's why he waited until he was facing Nos. He only had one chance to get it right_. If Taps would have used sucker punch while still facing away from Nos, the psychic type might have had a chance to stop it, but since Taps waited until the very last second, there was nothing Nos could do.

Chuck's Hitmontop slammed into the fallen Girafarig with quick attack before landing a triple kick, each connecting with Nos's side with a sickening _crunch_.

Nos fired a few psybeams at the fighting type, but Taps was spinning again and seemingly unable to touch, his body once again a blue and brown blur.

That was when Cutter saw it. Nos pushed himself up onto his knees and when Hitmontop spun in front of him, lunged forward with zen headbutt. Hitmontop's body shone a slightly brighter blue than usual and the fighting type was, once again, able to dance out of the way of the attack before retaliating with rolling kick.

 _Detect_. Detect was a move that was kind of like a cross between protect and double team. Detect enabled Taps to sense exactly where Girafarig was about to attack, and, with a soft flash, Taps was able to avoid it.

The Hitmontop's body is blue and spins so fast, that's why Cutter hadn't realized it earlier. He hadn't been able to see detect being used.

 _Detect. That's how he's avoiding your attacks,_ Cutter thought to Nos.

 _But how do I stop that?_ Nos replied

Cutter was stumped. He had realized what Taps was doing, but he had no idea of how to get around it. _I don't know. Just keep firing off psybeams and zen headbutt's. I'll think of something._

 _Why did Nos levitating away last time work?_ Cutter asked himself. Cutter smiled as he realized.

 _Nos, you've got to get Hitmontop to think you're going to attack._

Nos nodded, having caught on.

Nos fired off a few more psybeams, each time Taps barely avoiding being struck by them, each time landing an attack on his own.

Nos had to act fast. He could only keep getting hit like this for so long before being taken down himself, and Cutter wanted Nos to last for Chuck's last pokemon. Cutter had a feeling he knew what it was going to be, and it wasn't going to be easy. He needed all the pokemon he could get to help take it down.

Nos's head glowed pink, signifying a zen headbutt, and Hitmontop glowed the slight blue, anticipating the move, but instead of attacking, Nos levitated backwards. Taps, having anticipated an attack, moved to the right and swung forward with a triple kick, his kicks hitting exactly where Nostradamus would have been, had he actually attacked.

The fighting type didn't have a chance to use detect again when Nos latched onto Hitmontop with confusion, this time using Miracle Eye as well so that Taps couldn't escape with the dark type move.

From all around Nos's body flowed a psy energy a much deeper pink than anything he had produced in battle before. Psychic, the strongest special based psychic type move. The psychic sat there, distorting and twisting the air around Nostradamus as he conjured more and more of it, giving the area around him a beautiful, twisted look.

 _Now_ , both pokemon and trainer thought at the same time.

With a flick of his head, the psy energy around him flew forward and replaced the confusion holding Hitmontop. Instead of a stagnant energy that simply applied pressure unless controlled by the user like confusion, psychic was constantly moving, constantly pulling and pushing in every direction, without the user's guidance.

Cutter smiled as the crowd gave a modest cheer when Taps fell to the ground, unconscious.

He pushed that smile away as quickly as it came, though, because even though Cutter still had three pokemon and Chuck had one, the match was far from over. Nostradamus was exhausted. The battles with both Hitmontop and Croagunk had really taken it out of him, plus Arbok had already taken some damage too. His only completely unscathed pokemon was Patriot.

Across the field Chuck readied a pokeball and Cutter steeled himself for what he was sure to be Primeape, the strongest pokemon Chuck used at the fifth and sixth level challenges. But what appeared in the flash of white was no Primeape. What did emerge from that pokeball caused Cutter to physically take a step backwards, and the crowd lost it. Cutter had never actually been deafened by noise until this moment.

It was a Poliwrath, a behemoth of a Poliwrath named Blue, to be exact. Standing at five feet tall, nine inches taller than the average Poliwrath, Blue was a giant among his species, both in height and in muscle mass. Blue flexed his muscles and the crowd screamed even louder, which Cutter did not realize was possible.

Blue was not evolved from Chuck's starter of a Poliwag. That Poliwrath, named Ares, had died years ago. This was a different one, but it was widely considered to be the strongest pokemon that Chuck had in rotation for his gym challenges.

Blue had been on Chuck's team when he challenged the Elite Four several years ago. He lost, yes, but he made it all the way to the fourth member, Drake, before being defeated.

Cutter had no idea why Blue was out. Surely there was a mistake. He looked up, his eyes giving away the fear that he was feeling, at Chuck who was grinning for the first time that battle. Cutter paled as he realized it was no mistake. This was actually the pokemon he was to be battling.

Cutter felt peace wash over him from Nos, but it did practically nothing. _Father, calm down. We can win this. We will be fine._

"Begin!" yelled the referee, and in a single leap, Poliwrath had cleared the entire length of the field, nearly double the length that Muscles had cleared, landing exactly where Nos would have been, had he not levitated out of the way of the behemoth.

Nos was exhausted, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to put up a fight. A dozen illusory copies exactly like the original albino Girafarig appeared around the field, then a dozen more. Even in Nos's tired state, he was giving it his all.

From each copy of Nos flew a psybeam, colliding in a purplish haze with the blue fighting type. But the Poliwrath simply took the attacks unflinchingly. When the smoky psy energy faded away, the Poliwrath was standing just as strong as before.

Then, it was Blue's turn. Blue stomped and from the field erupted at least a dozen geysers of water. The Poliwrath closed his eyes and threw his hands up, and the water snaked its way around the field, shattering each illusory copy of Nostradamus in a magnificent display.

The only Girafarig left standing stopped the geyser from hitting him, twisting it around him with psychic, sending it flying in a different direction.

Without even moving, all of the jets of water switched directions, instead opting to fly towards the real Nos.

Nos threw up a psychic bubble to attempt to repel the water, but the highly pressurized jets soared through it easily. Nostradamus collapsed. He was unable to battle.

Cutter returned him and sighed, the loss of Nostradamus pulling him back to reality and lighting a fire in his heart. He was here to win this battle. Eighth level Poliwrath or not, Cutter could still take him down. He had two pokemon left, and one of which was a seventh level of its own.

Arbok appeared on the field and looked back at her trainer, confused.

"I know this isn't what we expected, but the plan is the same. Coil!"

Arbok responded by tightly winding and unwinding its body as it swayed in place, her hood furling and unfurling.

Poliwrath began to do some movements of his own, flexing and stomping around, which Cutter recognized as bulk up. If Blue got too powerful with bulk up, there would be nothing Cutter's pokemon could do to harm the blue behemoth.

Arbok slithered across the field, her thick purple body moving faster than Cutter thought possible, firing off random poison stings as she went, making Blue stop his bulk up in order to avoid them. Whereas Blue could tank the psybeams without fear, the poison stings were a different matter entirely. If the poison, however weak, made its way into his system, there would be nothing the fighting type could do about it.

Arbok lunged, her fangs glowing black with the dark type energy from bite, but instead of dodging, Blue simply caught her by the throat and held her out in front of him. But Blue forgot that Arbok was close to eleven feet long because he looked very surprised when her trunk-like body wrapped around him, squeezing him tight.

Cutter smiled. _Good girl._

Blue let go of Arbok's throat in order to try and pull Arbok off of him, but that was a mistake on his part, because the moment he did, she unfurled her hood and swayed from side to side. Blue caught sight of the entrancing pattern on her chest and, slowly at first then picking up speed, started swaying along with her. Blue stopped struggling, all of his focus on Arbok's hood. Cutter bit his lip. _Hurry girl._

Arbok's grip around Blue relaxed and she fell to the ground, the whole time making sure to keep Blue focused on her hood. Then suddenly, she closed her hood and hissed. Blue's focus broke and Cutter called out "now" as the two pokemon locked eyes.

Arbok narrowed the slits of her eyes, glaring at the water and fighting type in a way that would scare even the bravest of pokemon. Blue shuddered and backed away.

Cutter smiled. Part one was complete. Glare was a move that took extreme precision, but when executed correctly, frightened the pokemon into paralysis. It had a similar effect as thunder wave, but instead of electricity being fed into the muscles of the pokemon to paralyze them, it was fear. Even though fear was only psychological, it could do just as much damage as a physical affliction like thunder wave.

If any other pokemon would have done this, it probably wouldn't have worked, but since it was Arbok, it did. The Arbok line was the natural predator of the Poliwag line in the wild, so it was in the Poliwrath's DNA to be afraid of the Cobra pokemon. He never stood a chance.

But it was going to take a lot more than that to take down the Poliwrath, Cutter knew. This was no ordinary Poliwrath, so a little bit of paralysis was only going to get them so far.

Blue pushed through the effects of paralysis and punched his fist into the earth. A jet of water erupted from under Arbok, throwing her nearly to the ceiling. Then, just as quickly as the water appeared, it disappeared, and Arbok fell down, writhing as she struggled to right herself in mid-air.

Blue, using his powerful leg muscles, leapt up nearly forty feet and slammed a glowing fist into Arbok's jaw, throwing the Cobra to the other side of the field. Poliwrath landed with a thud, but wasted no time in leaping forward again, smashing another fist into the fallen Arbok.

Arbok's bruised body lay there and just as Poliwrath went to land another hit, Arbok took a page out of Quagsire's book and swept her tail out, knocking over the water and fighting type.

Arbok pushed herself up, obviously injured, but still willing to battle. If it weren't for the effects of coil that had increased her defenses, she would probably have been knocked out after that second punch.

As Blue pushed himself back up, a small but concentrated ball of poison formed in Arbok's mouth. She let it grow and grow, waiting until the perfect moment to strike.

The moment Blue turned to face her she spat it at him and it slammed into his white and black swirled stomach, instantly soaking into his skin.

 _WRAAAA,_ the Poliwrath roared, angry and in pain. The poison wouldn't take effect immediately, but the longer it was in Blue's system, the more potent it became. That was the magic of toxic.

"Venoshock!"

A misty purple poison flew from Arbok's mouth towards Blue, but the Poliwrath blew it away with a perfectly placed water gun. Arbok lashed out with her tail, firing a poison sting at the same time, hoping to catch Blue off guard, but Chuck's pokemon was too well trained.

Blue caught Arbok's tail and blew the poison aside with another water gun. The leader's pokemon used Arbok's tail to pull the Cobra pokemon in close before blasting a highly pressurized burst of water into her face, throwing her backwards.

But Blue was still holding on, and again he pulled Arbok back. She tried to throw a sludge bomb into Blue's face, but he spun her away so that the poisonous liquid flew harmlessly into the air across the field.

Blue slammed Arbok into the ground, a cloud of dust billowing out from where she hit the ravaged field. The Poliwrath's fist glowed white before he finished her with a mega punch to the back of her skull. Cutter returned her as the crowd lost it, screaming and cheering, but on the inside he felt silent and alone. This Poliwrath had now taken down a third of his team, and Cutter whispered words of encouragement to Patriot's pokeball before releasing him out onto the field.

The Teamwork pokemon appeared and swished his tail. When he caught sight of his opponent, he let out a guttural and tribal " _HEAHEAHEA."_ Blue looked across at him and folded his arms, not giving the Passimian the reaction that Patriot wanted, which just made Patriot let out an even more animalistic cry.

Fighter versus fighter. Cutter saved Patriot for last for a reason. Patriot was a fighting type, just like Chuck's entire team. That meant that not only was Patriot battling for his trainer, he was also battling for his own pride and dominance over the other fighting type. Cutter knew that Chuck's final pokemon would be his best, and that's why it was important for Cutter to save Patriot for last.

The moment the referee announced the start of the battle, Patriot rushed forward, soccer ball tucked under his arm, stance low like a footballer. His head gleamed silver and Patriot headbutted forward with an iron head.

Blue sidestepped and with a glowing fist threw a mega punch. Patriot was just barely able to duck under it before swinging out his leg and knocking Blue over with low kick.

The Poliwrath hit the ground and Patriot leapt onto him, slamming his fists into Blue's swirling midsection with a powerful return, signifying just how great his bond was with his trainer, before jumping back off, giving the winded Poliwrath a chance to rise.

Cutter frowned, but he supposed that it was a pride thing. There was no pride to be won in defeating an opponent while they were fallen, Cutter supposed was Patriot's reasoning.

Blue, on the other hand, did not seem opposed to cheap shots, because as he was rising he fired off a huge mud bomb, larger than any Cutter had ever even seen Quagsire use, that sent Patriot flying.

Patriot tumbled over the rugged field, but managed to right himself and slow down, standing shakily, but not looking too worse for wear. The hydro pump had been a direct hit.

Blue swung forward with a water cloaked fist and Patriot pulled up a protect just in the nick of time, but it understandably shattered from the impact of the move.

 _Patriot can't stay on the defensive._ _He can only protect himself for so long._ And Cutter was right. He looked at Patriot who was currently completely on the defensive. He was ducking and weaving, throwing up protect after protect as the huge blue fighting type threw punch after punch, mud bomb after mud bomb.

 _Why isn't Blue using any water type moves?_ Not the geysers, obviously, because that water came from the earth. Cutter meant water moves like water gun and hydro pump that came directly from the pokemon themselves. He knew that while water type pokemon did have specialized water sacs within their bodies that helped hold an excess of water as well as create more via some scientific process that Cutter didn't understand, they didn't have an unlimited supply of it. _Maybe Blue is saving his water?_ But what for, Cutter didn't know. Patriot was his last pokemon.

Patriot ducked under a brick break but a well-placed mud bomb knocked him off his feet and Poliwrath leapt onto him, slamming his fists into the fallen Passimian over and over again.

"Rock slide!" Cutter called.

From the earth appeared a dozen rocks, each about as large as Cutter himself, and with a flick of Patriot's tail, they slammed into Blue, knocking him off of the Passimian.

Patriot pushed himself up and glared at Blue, a fire in his eyes. He could tell who was on the tail end of the battle, and Patriot was ready to change that.

Dodging another mud bomb, Patriot's head glowed silver and he leapt forward. Blue swung out with brick break, but Patriot feinted backwards, Blue's brick break missing wildly, causing the Poliwrath to lose his balance ever so slightly.

Patriot capitalized and leapt up, slamming a brick break of his own into the joint on Poliwrath's shoulder. It didn't appear to do much damage, though, because Blue sent Patriot sprawling with a back handed slap.

Patriot landed it and sprang forward again, sliding under the mega punch the Tadpole pokemon threw, squeezing between his open legs, and slamming an iron head into that same shoulder joint. Just like before, it seemed to do nothing, because with that same arm Poliwrath elbowed Patriot in the face, making blood gush from his muzzle.

 _"HEAHEA,"_ Patriot screamed in pain, blood streaming onto his thick white fur.

"Patriot!" Cutter called, his stomach turning at the sight of the blood.

Patriot leapt forward, his arm glowing with the effects of brick break, Blue meeting Patriot's arm in the middle with a brick break of his own.

Cutter's breath caught in his throat as Blue's brick break overpowered Patriot's, and the Poliwrath's arm came flying down.

Apparently, that was what Patriot had wanted to happen because he slipped forward ever so slightly and Blue's brick break struck nothing but earth, and there was Patriot, ready to attack, using return to slam his fist into that same joint yet again.

Blue's white gloved fist flew backwards toward Patriot, but the Receiver pokemon ducked under it and landed another iron head into the Poliwrath's shoulder, which responded with a nasty crunch.

" _WORAAAA,"_ the Poliwrath cried out and clutched his shoulder as Patriot leapt away, giving Blue a moment to take in the pain. It seemed that Patriot had been trying to incapacitate the Poliwrath all along.

Patriot was tired of waiting. He slammed another brick break into Blue's hurt shoulder, the pain sending the Poliwrath to his knees. Patriot danced around Blue, dodging the Poliwrath's attack with ease, throwing his own attacks at the Poliwrath, who was unable to do anything about them. Blue was only able to attack and defend with one arm, and it seemed that Patriot had finally gained the upper hand.

Blue pushed himself back to a standing position, but the moment he fully righted himself, Patriot knocked the large blue pokemon back over with a low kick.

 _"HEAHEAHEA,_ " Patriot laughed, tauntingly.

Blue's remaining good arm swung out and grabbed Patriot's tail, taking the Passimian completely by surprise. Patriot tried to scramble away, but Blue was still an incredibly strong pokemon and he held firm to the struggling Passimian.

With a massive heave, Blue threw Patriot upwards, leapt to his feet, and pushed himself skywards. He slammed a massive gloved fist, glowing white with mega punch, into the flailing Passimian who was able to do nothing about the attack.

Patriot hurtled towards the earth from the force of the attack and slammed into the ground. Blue landed, stumbling slightly but remaining standing, and sent the fallen Passimian flying with a massive kick.

Patriot landed with a grunt. He pushed himself up, but as soon as he did, Blue was on him again, slamming a mega punch into Patriot's jaw.

Patriot crumpled to the ground and Blue gurgled above him in a display of dominance.

Patriot tried to push himself up, but Poliwrath kicked out, sending him sprawling again, letting out a guttural, " _WORAAWA,"_ as Blue lumbered over to Patriot and lifted one foot up onto the fallen Passimian, standing over him, signifying his win. Cutter's blood boiled as Poliwrath looked up and made eye contact with him. This wasn't battling. This was bragging. This was unsportsmanlike. No longer was the Poliwrath trying to beat Patriot, he was just trying to show the crowd and the trainers who the dominant pokemon was.

But as tired as Patriot was, he wasn't giving in unless he was completely unable to battle, and Cutter knew that Patriot didn't go down easily. Without Blue noticing, Patriot's tail snaked out and wrapped itself around the Poliwrath's leg that wasn't on him, and pulled. The Poliwrath stumbled and tried to use his still working arm to balance himself, but it seemed that that arm had stopped working too, because instead of the arm catching him, it just stayed frozen by his side, and Blue fell face first into the dirt, his eyes looking around wildly. The arrogance he had just been displaying was now gone, replaced instead with fear. It seemed that the paralysis and poison that Arbok had inflicted upon it had started to take their toll. As tough as the Poliwrath was, there was only so long that it could go with poison pumping through its veins and the effects of paralysis being pushed off to the side.

Cutter smiled. The display of arrogance that the Poliwrath had shown would be its downfall.

It seemed that Chuck knew this too, because he yelled, "Finish this!" and for the first time that battle, Cutter could have sworn he saw a trace of fear in the old trainer's eyes.

Patriot leapt straight at the Poliwrath, his arm ready to land a return, but Poliwrath rolled over, Patriot landing where Blue had been only a second before. Poliwrath grunted loudly with pain and swung his arm to the side, ignoring the effects of paralysis and poison, and caught Patriot in his huge gloved hand.

Blue swung Patriot over him and slammed the Teamwork pokemon into the earth before using that momentum to stand himself up. Poliwrath looked down at the Passimian who wasn't moving with a look that almost seemed like pity, but Cutter couldn't tell.

Cutter couldn't breathe, couldn't call out a command, couldn't do anything, as the largest hydro pump he had ever seen formed in the mouth of Poliwrath, and that's when he realized why Blue hadn't been using any water type moves. Poliwrath had been saving up his water for this moment. Chuck knew that Blue would be able to outfight Patriot. But what Chuck also knew was that Blue would eventually be forced to succumb to the effects of paralysis and poisoning. If Blue was able to get Patriot weak enough before he fell to the status afflictions, he would be able to wrap up the battle with his water moves.

Cutter dropped his eyes to his shoes as the hydro pump blasted full force into his fallen Passimian, a huge cloud of dust exploding around the two fighters. He wasn't able to watch this final moment, even if all he would have been able to see was the grainy brown of the dirt around them.

As the dust cleared, Cutter was expecting to hear the referee announce that Chuck was the winner and the crowd go crazy for the Gym Leader. But he didn't hear that. In fact, he didn't hear anything at all from the stands or the referee. They were both completely silent.

Cutter forced his eyes upwards and found Patriot pushing himself into a standing position, marking his dominance over the fallen Poliwrath. Patriot, who before the hydro pump had been bleeding and panting was no longer either of those things. He didn't look tired at all. Other than the light pink of faded blood in his otherwise white fur, Patriot looked just as he did at the start of the battle.

Cutter shook his head in disbelief as the referee announced, "Poliwrath is unable to battle. Chuck is out of usable pokemon. Cutter is the winner."

 _"HEAHEAHEAHEA,"_ Patriot screamed out, beating his chest, as Cutter ran up to hug his fighting type.

"How did you do that?" Cutter asked, his head buried in the Passimian's damp fur. "You did it, Patriot."

 _"Hea,"_ Patriot agreed, and then they were both laughing.

"Good battle," Chuck nodded, and Cutter stepped forward, his laughter quieting.

"Thank you, sir," Cutter said, nodding his head as a bow of respect.

"Smart of you to use Passimian's teamwork ability," Chuck told Cutter, petting the Teamwork pokemon. Patriot responded warmly, leaning into the Gym Leader's touch.

"What do you mean, sir?" Cutter asked, confused.

"Wait, you mean to tell me this wasn't planned?" Chuck laughed.

Cutter, who had no idea what the Leader was saying, responded, "no, I'm afraid not."

"Passimian's ability is Receiver, which allows him to pick up the ability of a fallen ally. In this case, he picked up Quagsire's ability, water absorb. Water absorb heals the pokemon's minor wounds and rejuvenates them, healing them. That's why hydro pump didn't do anything. Passimian's ability was water absorb for the battle."

Cutter smiled as he understood. "Ohh, I get it." He turned to Patriot. "You're a smart son of a bitch, you know that Patriot?" Patriot grinned and leaned his head against his trainer's arm.

"That doesn't mean he isn't tired. It doesn't completely heal them, it just fixes up some more temporary damage. You're still going to want to get him to a Pokemon Center, along with the rest of your pokemon. They worked hard, and you deserve this," Chuck said, handing him the Storm Badge. Cutter smiled and pocketed it, reaching out to shake the Leader's hand.

"Thank you again, sir."

"You have promise, Robinson. Don't waste it. Don't be like me," Chuck sighed and walked away.

"What do you mean?" Cutter asked, calling after the retreating Chuck. Chuck stopped and turned to him before smiling slightly. Then, without saying anything else, he walked away.

xx

Cutter had just dropped his pokemon off with Nurse Joy when his vision went dark.

"Guess who!" A familiar voice said before letting go and spinning him around, pulling him into a hug.

Cutter smiled. He had been right earlier. The white blond hair in the crowd had been Wylie. He returned the hug enthusiastically saying, "It's good to see you, Wylie."

"And it's good to see you, too, Cutter," Wylie said, pulling out of the hug. "You have been ignoring my texts again, though."

"Yeah," mumbled Cutter. "I've been focusing on training this week."

"I can tell," Wylie smiled. "You've grown a shit ton since you battled me. Chuck told me that Passimian picking up Quagsire's water absorb was not your strategy, but it was still brilliant. Your Passimian is brilliant. And…"

Cutter and Wylie spent the next hour talking about the gym battle. Even though it had just happened, Cutter was pumped to talk about it with him. The way Wylie was building him up and complimenting his pokemon made Cutter feel as if all of his training had really paid off. Then, once they could no longer find anything else to say about that battle, Cutter told him all about everything that had happened since they had last seen each other. From his gym battle with Jasmine to catching a Zorua to the boring ferry ride from Olivine, Cutter told him it all.

"But, now you have five badges," Wylie said as Cutter thanked Nurse Joy for healing his pokemon several hours later.

"Yeah? And?" Cutter asked, clipping five of the balls onto his belt, but keeping one pokeball off.

"Well, that means that you're going to come back and train with me, now, right?" Wylie asked, smiling. "Or have you forgotten?"

"No, I haven't forgotten," Cutter lied. He had forgotten. He had been so focused on this gym battle and keeping up with Bellow's progress in recovery that he had not given a second thought to going back and training with Wylie.

"Liar," Wylie joked, pushing Cutter playfully.

"Okay, yeah, I did," Cutter laughed, pushing him back. "But I can't yet. At least not immediately. I'm going to Hoenn tomorrow. My parents are moving there and I told them I would come with them."

Cutter could have sworn he saw a slight drop in Wylie's normally excited demeanor, but the normal type trainer covered it quickly and said, "of course! How long do you think it'll be? I just want to know so that I can make my plans."

"Two weeks," Cutter told him. "I'm going to stay through Arceus Day."

"Wait, hold on. You're Arceusan?" Wylie asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah," Cutter said, suddenly defensive.

Apparently, Wylie could tell that Cutter was offended by him, because he clarified by saying, "that's not a bad thing! I just had no idea. You've never mentioned it, and most people here in Johto don't worship Arceus. They worship Ho-Oh and Lugia."

"Well, yeah," mumbled Cutter. "I don't go shoving my religion down people's throats. And I don't know why we worship Arceus," Cutter admitted. "I think my grandparents were from Sinnoh, but I really don't know."

Cutter and Wylie had made their way to the video phones and Cutter asked for a minute to say goodbye to Rillo before sending her to the Day Care outside of Goldenrod. Wylie told him of course and went to wait in the lobby.

Cutter released Rillo and said, "hey. You did so well today, girl."

 _"Laa,"_ Rillo replied happily, rubbing her wooly head against her trainer's knee, making sparks jump up and down his leg.

"No, seriously. You battled really well," Cutter affirmed his pokemon, looking into her eyes. He knew that she got down because she couldn't keep up with the rest of the team sometimes. "I am so proud of you. Flaaffy or Ampharos or Mareep, I love you." He swept her up into a hug and she replied with a soft, loving shock.

He set her down and said, "but I am sending you to stay at the Day Care for a little bit. Once I get to Hoenn and am at my parent's new house I'll be able to bring you back, but until then, you're gonna be at the Day Care, okay?"

Rillo "laa'ed" in agreement and Cutter returned her.

Cutter dialed up Grace's number and she answered cheerfully.

"How has Dolos been?" Cutter asked her.

"Oh, he's been just wonderful," Grace assured him. "He is quite a little trickster. It took me a few hours to figure out his little games, but once I did, we've been getting along just fine."

"Good, I'm glad," Cutter laughed, thankful for the pleasant old lady.

"Are you going to be wanting him back?"  
"Yes!" Cutter said, placing Rillo's pokeball on the transporter. "I'm sending my Flaaffy Rillo back."

"You've got it," Grace said, and with a sizzle, the pokeball disappeared and less than a second later, a camoflauge Safari ball appeared in its place.

"Thanks, Grace," Cutter said, smiling before he hung up.

He released the Zorua who leapt up into his lap, laying down on his trainer's legs. "I missed you too, Dolos," Cutter murmured as he rubbed the back of Dolos's skull, smiling.

xx

 **Hey guys! Once again, thanks for reading. This was a really, really hard chapter to write. I'm not super confident in my ability to write battles, and so I worked on this one so much, but I'm *relatively* happy with the final draft! I'm always happy to hear your feedback! Like it, comment on it, PM me, and subscribe! Y'all are the best! Peace :)**


	17. The Takeover

Cutter and Wylie stood in front of the security gate at the Cianwood airport. The cold air of the indoors cooling them was a nice contrast from the heat outside. Summer in Johto was in full swing.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Cutter said, frowning slightly. "At least until I get back from Hoenn." He leaned in for a hug and Wylie returned it, squeezing the younger trainer tightly.

They pulled apart, a slight smile playing across Wylie's face and a playful gleam in his eyes. "What?"

"It's not goodbye yet," the bleach blonde trainer smirked. Cutter looked at him quizzically and Wylie's grin grew larger. "Since you're a League Trainee, and I'm in the actual League, I can accompany you to the gate." Cutter smiled and punched the Gym Leader lightly in the arm before turning away toward security.

"So why'd you let me give you that hug, then?"

"You think I'd turn down getting a chance to hug you?" Wylie laughed, putting his arm around Cutter and pulling him close. Cutter grimaced. He wouldn't admit it to the good-looking gym leader, but he didn't mind the hug.

"ID or Pokedex and ticket please," said the burly security guard whose silver nametag read "Curd." _Odd name,_ Cutter thought as he handed his Pokedex and plane ticket to Curd and waited as he scanned them on a machine with a clear screen that glowed softly with a red light. The machine beeped and Curd the guard waved Cutter through, handing him back his Pokedex and plane ticket. Wylie showed Curd his League ID and the guard waved him through as well.

The two trainers looked at a large, automated screen with flights, gate numbers, and departure times on it, the glow from the screen illuminating their faces. Cutter scanned the screen, and his eyes landed on his flight number. "There," Cutter pointed to his flight, Wylie's eyes following where Cutter's finger was pointing. "Gate E19."

Wylie jerked his head to the left and said "this way."

"So why was my battle so full yesterday?" Cutter asked as they walked to the gate.

"It's tourist season," Wylie replied. "And Cianwood is super popular for older tourists. They don't like Olivine much because of how modernized it has become and how many young people there are. Cianwood has advanced, don't get me wrong, but it still has the quaint, small village charm that the older generations like."

"But why did they come to my battle?" He looked over to see Wylie looking around at the various gate numbers, looking for E19.

"You've started to make a name for yourself," Wylie said, looking back at Cutter. He noticed the shocked look on the beginner's face and laughed, continuing. "I mean, you aren't anywhere near as famous as I am, but still. You're an eighteen-year-old League trainee, not to mention you won the finals of the tournament in Goldenrod with just one pokemon—an albino Girafarig." Wylie paused and sat down in a blue airport chair in front of gate E19, the blue plastic creaking as he settled in. "Don't worry. Most people haven't heard about your embarrassing defeat to me," Wylie added, winking. "And not to mention, older trainers _love_ to watch battles. They make up the majority of the views for upper level battles. They see it as a constant. While the rest of the world changes, battling is always the same."

"But battling isn't always the same," retorted Cutter. "People are always coming up with new strategies and battle styles." It was true, Cutter knew. Watching the Silver Conference every other year proved that. Trainers were always using extreme new strategies to surprise and throw off their opponents.

"Yes," Wylie replied, "but battling itself doesn't change. Once you defeat all of the opposing trainer's pokemon, you win. And it has been that way for as long as battling, as we know it at least, has been around. The older people don't like the new pokemon fighting though."

"What do you mean?" asked Cutter. "What new pokemon fighting?"

"Like underground battling. They don't like it. And for good reason, too. It's incredibly dangerous. I've been trying to get it banned in Goldenrod ever since I became the Leader, but it's harder than you might think. There are all sorts of loopholes and hoops that they jump through in order to keep the underground battles alive."

Cutter looked down at his feet, ashamed. He couldn't tell Wylie that he had participated in an underground battle before.

"Don't tell me you've been to an underground battle." Cutter didn't say anything, instead opting to just stare at a scuff mark on his shoe. "Have you?"

"Maybe," Cutter said.

"And? Am I right? Are they dangerous?"

"Oh, very dangerous," Cutter agreed nodding.

"Wait," Wylie said, looking at him, his eyes growing wide. "You've been in one, haven't you?" Cutter nodded slightly. "You've got to be kidding me. Not only is the battling dangerous, the people are too. If you beat the wrong person, they could take it the wrong way. You don't want to mess with people like that, Cutter."

"I know, I know. I'm not going to do it again. I just thought it would be some good training."

"Training doesn't matter if you're dead." Cutter looked over at the older trainer. Serious moments like these were rare for the laid back Wylie. It was unsettling. "Do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand."

"Promise me you won't ever go back into one of those, unless it's with the League for a bust, okay?"

"A bust? I thought you said they were legal?"

"The underground battling itself _is_ legal. It's the other stuff that happens in there that isn't. The illegal selling of poached pokemon, drugs, and worse."

Cutter frowned, his stomach feeling uneasy. "Does this happen in all of them?"

"Pretty much. Sometimes the crimes that go on aren't as bad, but the boss of the joint usually has all these underlings that follow him around. He gets the weaker ones addicted to coke, heroin or worse. They don't have the money themselves to sustain that addiction, so they stick to him like Remoraid to a Mantine."

Cutter shuddered. The fact that he had put his pokemon in that kind of danger upset him. He thought back to his underground battle and his mind settled on the big guy that had flirted with him, probably for that reason alone. He just wanted another underling, and Cutter had proven himself strong. Of course that guy would be interested.

"Promise me you won't ever go back in one, and especially not by yourself." Cutter looked up at Wylie and saw his big blue eyes staring earnestly yet sternly back at him. Yungoosbumps sprung up on his arms as he quickly looked away from the Gym Leader.

Deep down, Cutter knew that he couldn't keep that promise. If he came across another one, he would do everything in his power to take it down, to "bust it" as Wylie had put it. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't. But, he had to promise, at least verbally, to Wylie that he wouldn't. "Of course not," he muttered, still not looking at the older Leader. Wylie stared at him and Cutter was afraid that he could see right through him. But, after a moment, Wylie looked away.

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence, plagued by the insincerity of Cutter's promise a moment before. Finally, the crackling of an intercom pulled them from it. The overhead voice announced that Cutter's flight was boarding. He and Wylie stood and they embraced again, this time for the last time. "Have fun in Hoenn," Wylie whispered.

"Next time I see you, I'll be beating your ass in a gym battle," Cutter whispered back, smirking, the thought of him having to disobey Wylie's orders long gone. They pulled away and Cutter smiled at his friend before turning and walking towards the entrance to the plane.

"Cutter," Wylie called. Cutter spun around and looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"When you get back, Bellow will be better. She begins her battle therapy next week." Cutter stared back at Wylie, unable to speak for a moment.

A weight he didn't even realize he had lifted off Cutter's shoulders as tears flooded his eyes, threatening to spill over and embarrass him in front of a bunch of airport strangers. He blinked them back and said a simple, "thank you," just loud enough for Wylie to hear before turning and boarding the plane.

xx

Cutter's legs bounced up and down against his will, and he found himself clenching his arm rest so hard that his knuckles turned white. He let go and shook his hands, the blood returning making his fingers tingle. He clenched his eyes shut and prayed to Arceus that the flight was smooth and safe.

 _Bellow is okay_ , Cutter told himself over and over again as the plane began its slow ascent into the heavens. He knew all along that she would be. She was a fighter. It had just been so long since he had seen her that he forgot she would be back on the team again someday. It wasn't like he wanted to forget her, and he never really forgot her. How could he forget the first pokemon he ever caught? She just slipped his mind sometimes. He had his hands full with lots of other things, like the newly caught Dolos, training the rest of his pokemon, Wylie, and, Cutter shuddered involuntarily at the thought, Tycoon.

He pushed the less than unpleasant thoughts of Tycoon from his mind and forced his thinking back to his Ursaring. It had been so long since Bellow had fought alongside him that he didn't know what it would be like when she finally rejoined the team. She had never met Quagsire nor Dolos. Would she like them? Quagsire, yes. Dolos, he wasn't so sure of. She was motherly, but Cutter was worried that the little trickster would push her limits. Would she still be as strong as she used to be? He was sure that she would be. It might take some training, but he had no doubt that she would get there. He kept going over those questions and more over and over again to keep his mind off of the flight. To make matters worse, he had a window seat.

He had never actually flown before, so he was very apprehensive. He had been able to hide that fear from Wylie, but now that the plane was in the air, his nerves were running wild. _Battling in front of a thousand people_ , Cutter told himself, _is something I can handle. This? This is fear._

He knew that a lot of trainers had flying type pokemon that they flew on, but Cutter didn't have a flying type so he had never been able to try that. Not that he would have wanted to either. Deep down, Cutter knew why he had never even tried to catch a flying type. If he had a flying pokemon, he would have to ride it at some point. If he didn't, people would question why he never did. It was none of their business, but still, people were nosy, so they would ask. His fear of heights was the answer, but he would never admit that to anyone else. He didn't even really want to admit it to himself. So, he just didn't catch a flying type so he could stay in denial.

Cutter felt the pokeballs in his vest pocket, thankful he was able to keep his team with him. They, at the very least, helped to comfort him. Up in the sky, there was little they could do, but still they provided a warmth that he wasn't able to explain. Without his position as a League trainee, he would have had to stow his pokemon in a special holding rack within the confines of the plane with the rest of the passenger's pokemon. He smiled slightly as he laid his head back against the seat rest and tried to fall asleep, but to no avail. His heart was beating too fast and thoughts of the plane crashing kept him awake.

He peeked a single eye open and chanced a look out of the window. His eye journeyed down to see the clouds floating fat and white, and for a second, he was okay. But then his eye made the long journey down to the water below, and his stomach clenched and he squeezed his eye shut again.

"First time flying?" came a soft voice next to him. He opened his eyes and looked over at the girl that spoke. The first thing that Cutter thought was how beautiful she was. Her hair was dyed a striking blue, but it worked with her tan skin and smoky voice. The second was that she looked familiar. The last thing he noticed was how intimidating her presence was.

"Yes," Cutter muttered, his voice shaky from both his fear of flying and the girl.

"I remember my first time flying. It wasn't on a plane, though," she said. She touched his arm gently and Cutter's fear subsided, even if only slightly, only to be replaced by a different kind of nerves, a feeling he had only ever felt when he had interacted with Wylie.

"On a pokemon?" Cutter asked, slightly louder than last time.

"Exactly," she smiled, her pearly white teeth glistening in the dim plane lighting. "I was only five, and my father took me for a ride on his Tropius, Nan. She was the sweetest pokemon. By that time, she was close to fifty, but Tropius live for nearly a hundred years, so she was still in great health. It was exhilarating." She closed her eyes and smiled softly, living in the warmth of the memory.

"You were never scared?" Cutter asked, amazed that a child as young as five wasn't afraid of flying when he, at eighteen, was terrified of it.

"Maybe at first. But my father was there, and I trusted Nan so much. Mostly I just enjoyed the ride." Cutter couldn't see this girl being afraid of anything, but then again, he didn't know much about her.

Cutter nodded, trying to force his fear away, but it wouldn't go.

"Don't try and force it. Someday, you will have the opportunity to overcome that fear. When that opportunity comes, don't shy away. Take it and fly!" She was smiling, and her smile was so infectious that without realizing it, he was too.

"So you're from Hoenn?" He asked.

"I am. I just got my last badge from Johto, so I'm going back to Hoenn for a short visit with my family before I return and spend the next year training for the Silver Conference."

"You already have all of your badges?" Cutter asked, amazed.

"Yes, I do," she laughed.

"Whoa," he breathed.

"Johto gym leaders are stronger than I expected them to be. I had an exceptional amount of trouble with the bug leader, Bugsy." Cutter cocked his head, confused, trying not to let it show on his face. Bugsy was widely regarded as the easiest gym leader in the Silver Conference Official Gym Leaders Circuit. Why a trainer as apparently strong as this girl had trouble with him, Cutter had no idea. "I'm terrified of bugs," she confided. "It took me a little while once the battle started to really get in the groove. I even put him off until the eighth badge because I didn't want to battle him that badly. I even considered battling one of the other Gyms in Johto, but I decided to face that fear." There were exactly twelve gyms in the Johto region, but according to the League, there were eight main ones and four lesser ones. The eight main ones challenged you more than the four others, so serious trainers typically stuck with those main eight. But sometimes a trainer just had a team, typically trainers that focused on one type, that was not equipped to handle a certain Gym, so they would go to one of the other four. That also signified that your team was not balanced enough, so you'd better figure that out as well, but many trainers wanted the easier way out instead of working for it. "You'd think that after nearly four years of traveling that I would have overcome that fear, but alas, I have not."

Cutter breathed a sigh of relief. If this girl had fears, then surely it was okay for him to have them too.

"I see that you still have your pokemon with you," she remarked. "Why is that?"

"I'm a Johto League Trainee," Cutter smiled proudly. This girl might have all of her Johto badges, but at least she wasn't a member of the Johto League.

"So, you must be strong as well, then. I hope that someday we get a chance to battle."

"Maybe we will meet each other in the Silver Conference," Cutter said hopefully. He wanted a chance to defeat her in battle.

"Maybe we will. I'll have you know, though, that I also am a member of the Hoenn League. I'm currently in training to be a Hoenn Ace Trainer. I'm already just as strong as them, I just have to place in the top 2 in a Conference in order to become an official Ace."

Cutter's heart sank. He thought he had one up on this girl, but it seemed that she was better than him at every turn.

"What pokemon do you have?" she asked.

Cutter smiled. If there was one thing he liked talking about, it was his pokemon. "My starter was a Larvitar, but he's a Pupitar now. Then I've got an Arbok, a Quagsire, a Flaaffy, a Passimian, a Girafarig, a Zorua, and an Ursaring, but my Ursaring is in rehab right now in Goldenrod for an injury."

"I'm sorry about your Ursaring. I've had a pokemon badly injured before." Something that looked like sadness clouded her face, but the smile was back almost before Cutter had a chance to register it. "It's good that he, or she-."

"She," Cutter interjected.

"Well, it's good that she's going to recover. Not all trainers are so lucky." The sadness clouded her face again, but just like before, it was gone immediately. Then, her face shone with recognition. "I knew you looked familiar! You're the one who won the tournament with the Girafarig! The albino one!"

Cutter nodded, smiling, all thoughts of his fear of flying gone, replaced by the conversation he was having with this girl instead.

"You were incredible! Truly. You have a gift. I really do hope we meet up in the Silver Conference. The way you won the final battle with just your Girafarig was beautiful. The way he battled. He's got something innate within him that not a lot of other pokemon have."

"Thank you," Cutter said genuinely. "What about you? What pokemon do you have?"

"I don't know," she smiled. "If we may meet up in the Silver Conference, I don't want to give away my pokemon too early."

"You know all of mine," Cutter frowned, pleading playfully.

"Okay, okay. But I won't tell you all of them. You told me… how many did you tell me?"

"Eight."

"Alright. I'll tell you eight. That barely makes a dent in my team, so I don't think I have to worry about you choosing pokemon that specifically target mine, if we ever battle," she winked. "So my starter was a Lotad, now a Ludicolo. I've also got a Delcatty, Mawile, Gorebyss, Altaria, Glalie, Staraptor, Lickilicky, and a Seviper. How many is that?" She paused to count. "Wait! That was nine!"

Cutter shrugged, smiling. "I'm not complaining."

"It's fine," she laughed. "All of the ones I told you, you can find on old battle videos. It's the newer ones that aren't on tape anywhere that I kept hidden from you."

"Sneaky," Cutter smiled. "I'll have to check out some of your old battle videos, then. Well, I will if I can get your name?"

"Natasha," she said, extending a hand.

Cutter returned the gesture and said his name before realizing whose hand he was shaking. "Wait, you're Natasha Lexington! Your brother is the most recent Silver Conference winner!"

She sighed. "Yep. That's my brother."

"I'm sorry," Cutter said. "I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that he was all over the news in Johto for a while there."

"No, no it's fine," she said, but for the next hour, until Cutter finally drifted off to sleep, she was considerably quieter.

xx

Cutter awoke groggily sometime later as the plane was touching down. The lights were still dim but the passengers seemed restless.

"Did we land?" he asked Natasha, yawning and stretching his arms and legs as best as he could in the cramped plane.

"Sh," she said, silencing him with a finger. "Something's wrong."

"What?" he whispered back, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with balled up fists.

"I don't know," she confessed, "but we aren't in Mossdeep yet. The flight to Mossdeep is fifteen hours, and we've only been on here for nine. I'd say we're close to Dewford, but I could be wrong." She fell silent and Cutter's fear of flying was replaced with the fear of the unknown. The last time he had been on public transportation, Tycoon had taken over. _There's no way that could happen again_. _No way_. But telling himself those things didn't calm those fears.

He wasn't in the dark long, though, because a voice came on over the intercom, a voice that confirmed his biggest fears, a voice that made his blood boil and heart race. "Ladies and gentlemen. Your flight has been taken over by the organization known as Tycoon. We just landed and within a matter of minutes, you will all be ushered out of the plane. None of you have any pokemon, so don't try and fight back." The voice, while foreign to Natasha, chilled Cutter to the bone. He racked his brain, trying to think of the man's name.

"Titus," Cutter whispered aloud, the anger in his tone was palpable.

"What?"

"His name is Titus."

"How do you know that?" Natasha asked, her voice maintaining a level of calm that Cutter wished he was able to.

"I've encountered them before," Cutter said simply, not wanting to explain in that moment. Natasha nodded in understanding.

"They don't know we have pokemon," she whispered, "so we have to use that to our advantage."

"Yes, but they know who I am. I escaped from them last time and I led to their capture." Cutter's face was awash with confusion. "They were captured. That man was captured. How did he escape?"

"These evil organizations generally are very wealthy and have access to all the best lawyers. Not to mention the corruption that is involved in the people's government." Natasha's brow furrowed in thought and people all around stood up at Titus's command. "I sent out a help signal to the Hoenn League right before you woke up. The service is cut out now, though. They probably have a blocker up," she added, seeing Cutter pull out his phone. "Plus, you probably don't have an international carrier, so you don't get service outside of Johto or Kanto anyway."

Cutter sighed and put up his phone as people shuffled past their row. "What are we going to do?"

Natasha pulled out a pokeball and handed it to Cutter. "They don't know who I am. I'm going to go along with the rest of these people and see what I can learn from them and hopefully keep them safe." She paused and stood. "Stay down until everyone is past. Then, release my Gallade. He will know how to help you. Teleport out of the plane and try to get out of here. Then go and get help." She reached out and clasped Cutter's hand before saying, "get out of here. Do _not_ try and play hero, as tempting as it might be." She released his hands and stepped into the aisle. Then, she walked away, the last of the passengers to exit.

Cutter's breath caught in his chest and he closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. _In, out, in, out, in, out._ The sound of heavy boot steps was getting closer and his breath caught in his throat. _Now or never,_ he told himself. The white flash of the pokeball releasing Gallade was bright in the dim lighting of the cabin, and for a second Cutter thought he heard the sound of the steps stop, but they resumed almost immediately. Cutter and the Gallade made eye contact.

 _Grab my arm._ The voice of Gallade in his mind startled him because of how similar to Nos's voice it was. No, not similar. They were exactly the same. Cutter shook his head and pushed those thoughts from his mind and grabbed Gallade's arm. Cutter's breath left him completely and everything disappeared from around him in a flash of white and a small _pop_.

Cutter's knees slammed down onto the hard ground and he gulped in the warm Hoenn air. His vision was blurry and he could barely make out the silhouette of Gallade above him. _We do not have time to sit here_ , the Gallade told Cutter as the pokemon extended a bladed arm and helped the trainer to his feet against his wishes.

"Natasha said to get out of here and get help," Cutter told the pokemon as he looked around and took in his surroundings. They were behind some crates in what appeared to be an old airplane hangar. The sounds of yelling came from the other side of the crates.

 _I am not leaving my master_. Gallade's voice was soft yet unwavering, and Cutter knew that he couldn't leave either. He knew that if they were in the same situation, his pokemon would stick around for him, and he couldn't make the Gallade leave his trainer either. He recalled Natasha's voice in his mind, telling him not to play hero, then Wylie's, telling him not to do anything stupid like take on Tycoon by himself, but that wasn't what this was. He was not playing hero. He was trying to save lives and help people. Heroes did it for the glory. Cutter wanted to help them because that was the right thing to do.

"What should we do?" he asked, making up his mind to stay. He would have to ask for both Natasha and Wylie's forgiveness later.

Gallade closed his eyes and a hum emitted from him. He glowed slightly and opened his eyes again. _I have a layout of the place, but it took too much energy to teleport off the plane. The dark type energy is immeasurable here. My psychic moves will not be much help, and I cannot teleport again._

Cutter nodded, trying to think of a plan, but before he was able to come up with one, Gallade stood and looked around the edge of the box. _No one is in this room any longer. We can go._

Cutter pulled a pokeball from his belt and released Patriot, his strongest pokemon. The Teamwork pokemon leapt up and down, happy to see his trainer, but his excited demeanor quickly switched to angry as Cutter hurriedly explained the situation to his pokemon. Patriot remembered their last encounter with Tycoon, and he wasn't happy about it.

Gallade peeked his head around the corner of the crates before waving them forward. The three of them stepped out from behind the crates and walked quickly yet cautiously through the hangar. Even with the two pokemon by his side, Cutter felt incredibly vulnerable in the large, open space.

They reached the far end of the hangar and stood just outside of a door that would lead them further into the depths of the place, the place that Gallade told him was filled with immeasurable dark energy. Gallade closed his eyes before nodding. The door swung open and Cutter stepped through, pushing both fear and doubts about what he was doing from his mind.

The hallway was dimly lit with artificial fluorescent lights and the doors every fifteen to twenty feet along the wall gave off an eerie, unsettling feel. They stepped through and their footsteps echoed hollowly off of the walls as the door slammed shut behind them, making Cutter jump. Gallade touched his shoulder softly and Cutter calmed, if only slightly.

They made their way further into the hall before Gallade held up a bladed arm, halting them, and pointed to a door, which swung open at the psychic type's command. They stepped through, into another hallway, this one as dimly lit as the other. Unlike the other one, this one only had two doors, both on opposite sides of the hall about fifty feet down.

Gallade led the way this time, and the unease in Cutter grew. They hadn't seen or heard anyone yet. This couldn't be right. Based on what the Champion had told him, Tycoon was a massive organization. Why were there so few people here? Why hadn't they seen any of them yet? Cutter knew that they had to be around here somewhere, simply because of the dark type energy that Gallade had mentioned, but so far, there was no proof of that to see.

They reached the two doorways and Cutter looked at Gallade expectantly, who just shook his head. _I do not know which door to go through. The dark type energy… it is laced into the very building. It is not pokemon._

"What?" Cutter muttered in disbelief. "In the building?"

 _I do not know how this is possible. I have never experienced anything like this._

Cutter and the two pokemon stood there for what felt like forever before Cutter eventually made a decision and turned to the left. He made eye contact with Gallade, who nodded in approval, even though at this point the Gallade knew just as little as Cutter did. He took a deep breath before pushing the handle down and stepping into the room.

The room, this one well lit, was more like a giant sleeping hall, and there were rows after rows of bunk style beds, all of which were empty. They walked in further and Cutter, expecting to find something, was let down and confused. There was nothing. No items under the beds, no sheets covering them, not even a forgotten sock. There was nothing. It was like no one had ever even been there.

"Let's get out of this room. I don't like it," Cutter announced, his voice echoing back to him eerily in the empty room.

They exited the room and opened the door to the next. The room was huge and brightly lit, its gleaming white walls making the room seem even brighter than it actually was with a deeply artificial and discomforting white. But what took Cutter's breath away was the huge group of people dressed in all black standing in front of him, talking amongst themselves. None of them had turned around when he walked in, so they hadn't noticed that he was there. He didn't know how long that would last. He pressed his back against the wall, the white tile cold against his bare arms, and said a silent prayer to Arceus.

Cutter's eyes scanned the room, and scattered in with the people were various pokemon, most of which were dark type. It was only a matter of time until they noticed him. Cutter began slowly inching out of the room when the TV flicked on and the members of Tycoon simultaneously stopped talking and swung their heads toward the TV as if their lives depended on it.

On the screen was a smiling man's face. He was good looking and dark haired with teeth that practically blinded Cutter. "My faithful members," he began. His voice was smooth and instantly Cutter found himself drawn to the man, who obviously had a natural charisma about him. Cutter pressed his eyes closed, forcing himself out of whatever trance the man on the TV had him in. _He called them members. Is he… the leader?_ Cutter asked himself, but he was brought out of his thoughts when the man on the TV began to speak once again. "Today is the day that we announce to the world that Tycoon is here to stay. For years, we have stayed in the shadows, operating in secrecy and allowing for others to take credit for our actions. But no longer. After tonight, Tycoon will be known, and fear will be instilled around the world. We will get what we want. We demand it. It is ours." The crowd cheered and Cutter's blood turned cold. These people, these monsters, had put his friend in a coma. Memories flooded back of Patriot hurt, the smell of alcohol in the train, and the cruelty of those in command within the organization.

Before Cutter could do anything, not that he knew what to do in the moment, the TV switched to an aerial shot of a large boat, sitting still in the middle of the ocean. If it wasn't for the waves lapping at the sides of the boat lazily, Cutter might have thought it was just a picture. The man began speaking again, this time as a voice-over, his face not appearing back on the screen. "People of the world," he said. _So is this being broadcast live?_ Cutter asked himself. The man was no longer talking only to the room. "Tycoon refuses to live in the shadows any longer." The crowd cheered again. "We have tried to get you to notice us for years, but your Leagues have pushed us under the rug. They have said we are not an active threat. They have dismissed us. They have disregarded our vision. Since we have not killed anyone, we are not a real problem, they say. Well, that is no longer the case." Cutter's mind was running, trying to figure out what was going on. Awful scenario after awful scenario played over in his mind as the man spoke, each scaring Cutter more than the last. "Tonight we hijacked a plane as it was on its way from Cianwood in Johto to Mossdeep in Hoenn. We have everyone from that flight on this boat. Now, in just a few seconds, this boat will explode, killing everyone on it. And then, once that happens, Tycoon will be pushed under the rug no more."

Of all the scenarios Cutter had run over in his mind, that wasn't one of them, and he let out an audible gasp as his blood chilled in his veins, causing many members to turn around and see him.

"Intruder!" one man yelled. "Get him!"

The man kept speaking on the television as several members and their pokemon ran toward him. Cutter found himself frozen in fear, unable to move even an inch. A Weavile, possibly the same one from the train but possibly not, Cutter couldn't tell, closed the gap more quickly than any of the others but found itself flying backward from the force of a brick break from Patriot. Gallade grabbed Cutter's shoulder and the boy snapped out of his haze and threw himself through the open door and into the hallway, sprinting down it, the sound of his and his pursuers footsteps echoing all around him.

Gallade threw open the door with his mind and they fled through it before Gallade slammed it closed again, hopefully buying them even just a few seconds. They ran a few feet down the hall before Gallade threw open another door and they threw themselves into it before closing the door behind them.

The room was completely dark, but Cutter didn't search for a light. He sank down against the wall, before Gallade pulled him back up.

 _No. Now is not the time to panic nor give up. We must keep going._ The Gallade was right, Cutter admitted to himself as the sound of Tycoon members thundered by outside their room. The three of them held their breath, but Cutter's heart was beating so wildly that he was sure the people chasing after them could hear it. Finally, after what felt like forever, the sound was disappeared.

"What do we do?" It was only a matter of time until those searching for them realized they had been fooled and doubled back. Cutter felt around for a light switch. He found it and flipped it on, and there, lying on a small cot on the other side of the room was a middle-aged man with graying hair and an arm in a sling. Cutter recognized him immediately as the young Professor Gary Oak that had been kidnapped from the train a few months before.

"Professor Oak," Cutter exclaimed, rushing to the man's bedside.

"What?" he croaked as he opened his eyes, his voice raspy. "Who are you? Are you here to take me away?"

"It doesn't matter who I am right now," Cutter told him, having no time to be starstruck by the famous pokemon professor. Cutter quickly recounted the story of how the plane got hijacked and what he had seen on the TV.

The professor sat in silence for a moment before nodding and speaking, his voice raspy yet level, despite the situation. "I knew I was being transported tonight. I just didn't realize the reasoning behind it. They cannot stay here once they have made themselves public. They have to move."

"It's time to get him," came a voice from outside. "Boss wants us in the sub right when the boat explodes so that we can get away."

"I know the plan, idiot."

"I was just telling you because apparently, there are League jerks on the way. Someone on board sent out a distress signal before we blocked the signal."

Cutter gulped. They were talking about Natasha. But they referred to her as someone, so they didn't know who it was. That meant they didn't have a personal vendetta against her. Not that it mattered, because she was on the boat that would explode as soon as those men were on the boat. Cutter froze as he watched the handle turn. Two men stepped into the room and for a moment, everyone was frozen.

"Hey, who are-," the larger man said, but with a psychic blast, weakened by the dark type energy in the building, Gallade knocked them both out cold, ending the man's sentence for him.

"We have to go, Professor," said Cutter, his voice cracking slightly as he helped the pokemon professor stand. He put one arm around Cutter and the other around Gallade, and they made their way out of the room. "Do you think you can find a way out of here?" Cutter asked the Gallade.

 _Yes._

The Gallade closed his eyes before pointing forward. Halfway down the hall and the door at the end opened, but not by Gallade's psychic powers. Through it walked the same man that was on the plane, the man that Cutter had to face down on the train as well. Titus.

"So it's you. I didn't get a chance to see you when I heard there was an intruder in our base, but I should have known it was you. And then when the good Pokemon Professor here didn't make it to the sub, I had to come looking." Titus pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "You're good to go. I'll be to the sub in a second."

"Okay," crackled a voice over the walkie-talkie's speaker.

Titus pulled out a pokeball and from it erupted a Cacturne. The spiky green pokemon glared angrily at the four of them. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Titus said as he leaned against the wall, which Cutter thought was weird considering the dire nature of the situation.

Not a moment later, an explosion that shook the very foundation of the building and sent a shower of dust onto their heads made it apparent why he was standing that way. When Cutter and the other three of them fell, the man remained standing. The ship had exploded.

With a rush of fury Cutter leapt up from the floor and ran at the Cacturne and Titus, but a sweeping kick from his very own Passimian knocked him back down. Cutter's head slammed onto the floor, and he saw flecks of something red speckle the white tile. He tried to push himself back up, but his head groaned in pain so he stayed down.

With a roar unlike anything Cutter had ever heard from him before, Patriot leapt over his trainer and at the dark and grass type pokemon. The two fell into an angry brawl, neither wanting to give into the other. Cutter pushed his hands into his vest pockets and with a pained grunt, pulled Silver, Nos, Arbok and Quagsire's pokeballs out of his vest pockets and released them as well, keeping only Dolos out of the fray. He was too green to fight in a battle of this caliber.

"Not battling one-on-one, are we? Fine, I can let out the rest of my workers to fight," Titus snarled, his smile gone. He pulled out three more pokeballs, releasing a Linoone, Manectric, and an unknown small white pokemon that Cutter didn't recognize.

Before Cutter realized it, the hall was clouded with smoke and dust from the battle, and Cutter couldn't see a foot in front of him. Through the haze Cutter could see a dim purple light shooting through. _Nos's psychic attacks_. The small thought comforted him, but then the dim light disappeared and his hope dissipated with it. He could see the outline of Silver and Cutter's face stung with the dirt that his starter was throwing around.

Screams from the pokemon came from within the smoke, but they were all overlapping and cutting into each other so much that Cutter couldn't tell when it was his pokemon screaming or Titus's. Then, rising above all of the other's came Patriot's angry roar of " _HEAHEAHEA_." Cutter was fearful that his pokemon was hurt for a moment, but thenthe small white pokemon slammed into the ceiling and then fell back down right in front of him, small, weak sparks jumping across its fur, but it did not rise. Patriot, it seemed, was okay.

Cutter didn't have time to think about the enemy's fallen pokemon, because from above him shot a jet of fire. Cutter pressed down to the floor as best he could, but still it was uncomfortably hot and he felt his body grow sticky with sweat. Cutter could only hope that his pokemon were okay. They had already taken down one of Titus's pokemon. For the third time that day he prayed to Arceus, this time promising the God pokemon that he would become a mor faithful follower and attend church more often if only the God pokemon kept his pokemon safe.

There was nothing he could do to help his pokemon but pray, but he could help the professor. He closed his eyes and, using the wall, pushed himself up, ignoring the pounding pain in his skull. After a painstakingly long time, Cutter made it onto his feet, but he was forced to lean against the wall just to remain standing, the dizziness making it impossible otherwise. After catching his breath, which was exponentially more difficult with the smoke clouding the hallway and his lungs, he began to make his way back to where he thought the professor to be, using the wall as a crutch.

"Professor?" Cutter croaked, the smoke making it hard for him to speak.

"Yes, I'm here," came the professor's voice from his right. Cutter barely heard the weakened voice over the din of the battle going on behind him.

Cutter reached out blindly with one hand, the other keeping him steady on the wall, and came into contact with the professor's arm just as another jet of flame exploded through the haze. Cutter let go of the professor's hand and pushed himself further against the wall. He whipped his head around just in time to see Quagsire land an uppercut to the Manectric's jaw before the haze clouded his vision again.

Cutter looked back to the smoky silhouette of the professor and pulled the older man to his feet as best he could in his weakened state and steadied him against the wall. Apparently Gallade had jumped into the fray as well, although Cutter couldn't blame him. Natasha was… Cutter stopped. He couldn't even force himself to think it.

"What do I do, professor?" Cutter coughed and pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose, the thick haze in the room making it almost impossible to breathe or see.

"We need to get out of this smoke. That will kill us before that brute's pokemon do." Cutter and the professor stepped forward blindly, Cutter keeping one heavy hand on the wall, searching for a door and keeping him standing. When they finally got to one, they found it was locked. Cutter groaned inwardly and pushed forward, his breathing becoming labored and heavy. Every step and breath was painful. His foot caught on something and he went down with the professor. He tried to push himself back up, but he found that he couldn't. The pounding in his head made it almost impossible to think, but Cutter forced his mind and feelings out to his trusted psychic type.

Apparently, it was just enough, because from his psychic pokemon came a wave of peace that Cutter would not have been able to procure on his own in his weakened state.

Cutter's eyelids flickered and he felt himself slowly slipping out of consciousness when something soft nuzzled his face. He turned away but it didn't stop. He tried to lift his arms to push the intrusive being away, but they would not move. He tried again, but he was simply too weak.

 _Father, it is me. We need to go_.

"Nos?" Cutter asked as his eyelids fluttered open. The air around him was hazy and gray with smoke and his eyes and lungs burned, but through it he could make out the outline of his Girafarig and his eyes filled with tears at the sight. His white fur was indistinguishable with the soot and dust that had settled into it. He looked like a completely different pokemon.

 _Yes, Father. We need to go._ _This building will be destroyed in mere minutes_.

Suddenly, it all came rushing back to him. "Destroyed?" he said, trying to stand, but failing. He was weak and his legs wouldn't hold his weight.

 _Yes. I delved into the man's mind as best as I could to hear that as he fled, but the dark energy here is so powerful. Too powerful even for a Miracle Eye. But we need to go._

Cutter found himself being lifted up with a soft psychic energy. It felt nice, he realized. He was set gently on Nos's back and he found himself wondering when his pokemon got big enough to carry him.

As the smoke slowly settled, Cutter found himself looking at his pokemon in various states of injury, but thankfully none of them looked mortally wounded. Pupitar's shell looked slightly cracked and Arbok had a large gash in the face of her hood, but they looked okay. They were all covered with the soot, but none looked so different as Nos did.

"I need to return you," Cutter muttered, but found himself too weak to reach for his pokeballs. "Or not."

Nostradamus stepped forward and Cutter noticed that an unconscious Professor Oak was being carried by Gallade.

"Wait," Cutter said, noticing the previously white pokemon covered in blood and, hopefully just, unconscious on the floor. It appeared that its trainer had left it behind. "We can't just leave it."

 _Father-._

"Nos. We will not leave this pokemon behind." His voice was strong and did not betray the fear and uncertainty in his heart. If Nos realized it, he did not argue. Cutter's tone had a finality that the Girafarig would not question. He was, after all, the trainer. Quagsire leaned down and picked up the small pokemon, cradling it in his arms. It was an odd sight that Cutter might have found amusing, had the circumstances been different.

They made their way out of the dust filled hall and found themselves in the hangar where the plane remained.

"Wait," Cutter muttered and his team stopped at his command. "There are pokemon on the plane. We cannot leave them." Cutter's team knew better than to argue in that moment, but Gallade was not his pokemon.

 _We do not have time_ , the Gallade thought to him as the two made eye contact. _And the chances of those pokemon even being on board still are slim, child._

"Then you go," Cutter snarled. "I will not leave these pokemon." The two of them stared each other down for a moment before the Gallade gave in.

 _I have nowhere to go without you now,_ he admitted with a sadness evident in his thoughts, and Cutter realized that he was right. He had the pokemon's ball and his trainer was on the boat. _Or was on the boat_ , he admitted to himself, but pushed the thought away.

Nos galloped forward as best he could with the trainer on his back and opened up the hatch that led to the storage compartment on the plane. Cutter slid off of his pokemon's back and pulled a storage ball out of his backpack as he unsteadily made his way up the stairs into the storage compartment.

There, on the far wall, was a storage container. It was empty. There were no pokeballs on it. Gallade was right. Tycoon had taken them with him. Why they wouldn't have, Cutter didn't know, and because of his unneeded gallantry for pokemon that weren't even there or his, they might all die in the explosion.

 _We need to go now, Father_.

Cutter nodded and Nos turned and they made their way back to the rest of his team, the Gallade, and the Professor.

They made their way out of the doomed base without seeing anyone else. It seemed that the submarine had left along with all of the members of Tycoon. Their lives were more important than obtaining the Professor, it seemed. Cutter did not know how well the man on the TV would take that. As charismatic as he had been, Cutter felt that he hid his temper. Plus, the boss of an evil organization probably would not be kind in punishments.

As they stepped outside, the night air was cool and the sound of the waves lapping at the shore was the only sound. It seemed that nature did not realize the loss that was experienced that night.

"We're out," Cutter said, some of his strength returning, or so it seemed. Maybe it was all in his head. "How do we get away. The explosion is about to happen."

 _We are on an island_ , Nostradamus told him, fear and pain evident in his thoughts, though he tried to hide it as best he could. Sometime Cutter forgot just how young his trusted psychic type really was.

Cutter reached into his vest and pulled out the pokeballs for everyone except Quagsire and Arbok. "I'm going to return you all. Arbok and Quagsire are the only ones that can swim. We have to get off of this island. We'll die if we stay here." His team, unhappy, agreed to be returned. One by one they were pulled back into their pokeballs until the only ones left on the beach were Cutter, Quagsire, Arbok, the old professor, and the bloody white pokemon in Quagsire's arms.

"Quagsire, you'll hold the professor. Arbok, you'll hold me." His pokemon agreed with silent nods as they made their way to the edge of the shore, where the water met the sand. The only light came from security beams mounted on the outside of the base.

Cutter bit his lip as Quagsire deposited the small pokemon into his arms before slipping into the water, the soot and dust washing off of and turning the previously blue water around him a murky gray. He sank into the water before rising back up and allowing the professor to mount him.

Arbok slithered into the water and Cutter stepped into the shallow of the sea, his steps heavy with the weight of both the night and the water in his sneakers. He climbed on top of Arbok, kneeling on her hood. He would have loved to use the saddle, but he didn't know if it was too heavy for the water, and he didn't think they had enough time to put it on anyways.

"Let's go," he murmured and they fled into the water.

There was a roar that sounded like a helicopter and Cutter looked back to the sound. There it was, a helicopter landing on the beach with the Hoenn League symbol emblazoned on the side. Then another one. Cutter saw people climb out and look around, just silhouettes and shadows in the dim security lighting.

"No!" Cutter screamed. "We have to save them! Go back!" But Arbok did not listen. To her, her trainer was more important than those random people.

Then, a rumble from the island made its way out into the water, causing the ocean to churn around them. Cutter screamed, holding on tight to Arbok but still looking back at the explosion too.

Cutter watched as a burst of flames erupted from the base, lighting up the dark, starry night sky. The base, which looked so strong and imposing from up close, collapsed without even putting up a fight. The people and helicopters were enveloped in the blast as well and Cutter let out a choked sob as they disappeared within the flames, no chance of survival from a blast like that. Then, there was the sound of a second and third explosion, Cutter figured it was the helicopters exploding, and Cutter felt tears stream down his face.

Even from their position in the water, speeding away, Cutter could feel the heat on his body from the fire. When the fire finally went down, the small island was empty and dark, save the smoldering ashes that rose into the air, the only thing signifying that anything had just happened. With no more security beams from the base lighting up the beach, it was dark, and there was nothing but the moon and the stars to light their way through the water.

Cutter turned back and set the small pokemon in front of him on Arbok's hood before kneeling over it and letting out a pained scream, one that had been trapped in his chest all night. He didn't care that he looked crazy in front of the esteemed professor. He didn't care. How could he?

xx

 **Hey, sorry for the long wait time! I started and scrapped and restarted this chapter SO MANY TIMES! I just could not get it right. I hope that this satisfies everyone until I get around to posting again. As usual, like, subscribe, and leave a review. Thanks everyone for reading!**


	18. Stranded

Cutter sighed and paddled his feet softly in the warm ocean water, his bare feet tired and pruned. He stuck a hand into his vest pocket and fingered the storage ball that he had shoved his backpack, socks and shoes into frantically, making sure that it was still there and hadn't fallen into the depths of the ocean. He zipped the pocket back up and clung tightly to the piece of driftwood that had been keeping him afloat for the last several hours.

He had been lucky to come across the driftwood when he did. Arbok and Quagsire, although able to swim, were not carrier pokemon. They were not built to transport people for long distances, especially in the ocean. The oil Quagsire secretes was not meant for the salty ocean water, and once Cutter noticed how dry his water type's skin had become, he was forced to return him. Arbok, simply unable to maintain the long-distance swimming, followed shortly after.

Cutter and the Professor were forced to tread water for a few moments before the piece of driftwood floated alongside them. Unfortunately, it was far too small to hold both of them. Cutter, his mind scrambling for an idea, had a stroke of brilliance. Or so he hoped. He didn't know if his idea would work, but they were out of options.

Nostradamus had been spending a lot of time honing and focusing the force of his psychic powers. A result of that had been an increased ability to float above the ground, and Cutter thought, hoped, prayed to Arceus, that maybe Nostradamus would be able to float over the open waters of the ocean as well.

When Cutter first released Nos, it proved to be a little tricky, and Nos took more than one dip into the ocean's waters. But after a few moments of concentration and psychic outpouring on Nos's part, he was able to sustain a slight hover over the water, his white coat dripping wet. Cutter mentally apologized to the young psychic type whose annoyance Cutter didn't need a mind link to feel.

Since Cutter was younger and in better health than the Professor, he would stay in the water. Nos would carry the professor. The Girafarig had done it without complaint, as well, at least verbally at least, and Cutter was grateful that Nos was gracious enough to keep his anger to himself.

Nos was not only carrying the professor, but the tiny white pokemon, who Cutter had learned was called Pachirisu, was on his back as well. Cutter spent the better part of an hour gently rubbing the blood and grime from the electric type's coat. Its fur was as white as Cutter could get it. The Pachirisu still had some nasty, deep cuts on it that Cutter couldn't do anything about, but for now, at least, the wounds were cleaned. He could apply some gauze when they got to land. Whenever that would be.

Cutter looked up at Nostradamus and smiled. He lifted his hand to give an encouraging wave to the psychic type. As he lifted his hand, he felt a prick of pain in his finger. He examined his finger as best he could in the dim light that the moon provided. He could just barely make out a tiny spot of blood. More than likely a splinter of wood had caught him. He dipped his finger in the ocean, letting the salty water clean it as best it could, watching as the blood dissipated away.

 _Okay, Father?_ Nos's voice came in for the first time in a while, soft and soothing.

 _Yeah. Just a cut._

Then, there was silence again. Cutter didn't blame Nos for the silence. He was trying to conserve all of his energy for carrying the load his trainer had assigned him.

"Mr. Robinson?" croaked the professor's voice from above.

"Yes, Professor?" Cutter asked, his voice dry.

But what the professor had to say, Cutter did not find out, because Nos's voice exploded in his mind, louder and more fearful than he had ever heard it.

 _FATHER YOU ARE IN DANGER!_ Cutter winced, the explosive voice giving him a massive and sudden burst of pain in his head.

 _From what, Nos? And be quiet, please._

 _Release the Blue One and the Slither_.

 _Why, Nos?_

"Mr. Robinson, I suggest you ask your Girafarig get you out of the water," the professor said, a quiver of fear in his otherwise calm voice.

Cutter felt himself being lifted from the water and in his mind felt the strain that Nos was feeling, keeping both himself and two humans suspended over the ocean's surface.

 _Now release them_ , Nos commanded as he rose a few feet higher in the air, the strain of which Cutter felt might make his head explode. He slammed his eyes shut and pressed his fists into his temples, trying to relieve some of the pain, but it wasn't doing anything.

 _FATHER NOW!_ Nos screeched, and as a result, without Cutter doing anything, Quagsire and Arbok's pokeballs flashed open, releasing the pokemon within into ocean.

Cutter forced his eyes open and the sight he was greeted with made him realize why Nos was so fearful. Less than 500 feet away, and closing very, very quickly, were at least twenty orange fins, and one large, lone blue one at the back of the pack.

"What is it?" Cutter asked, his voice barely above a whisper, his eyes darting over to the young Professor Oak.

"Carvanha and Sharpedo," the professor replied, not taking his eyes off of the immediate threat. "They're very dangerous and aggressive water type pokemon native to Hoenn. They're drawn to blood and… body fluids." Cutter winced inwardly, suddenly very aware that his pricked finger was likely the culprit for the pokemon here. Even that tiny bit of blood had drawn the Carvanha and Sharpedo to them.

"So what do we do?" Cutter asked, his voice cracking for the second time that night, this time out of fear and not dehydration.

"We're going to have to battle them. Or, you are, rather. There's no way we can outrun them."

"Not even up here?"

"Oh, no." The professor said. "They can leap upwards of twenty feet out of the water. We must fight as best we can."

"Quagsire, Arbok," Cutter yelled, his voice catching in his throat slightly. "Do whatever you can, and don't get hurt! Don't be afraid to play dirty."

 _Do you think you have the energy for a Miracle Eye?_ Cutter asked Nos, aware of what the answer would probably be.

 _I do not know, Father. I can try._

"You keeping us out of the water is the most important thing, so don't worry if you can't," Cutter mumbled, switching from mental speech to verbal without noticing.

He glanced down and saw a ball of mud fly directly into the center of the pack, but the speedy water types dipped deeper into the water, avoiding the attack completely. Only the large, blue fin of Sharpedo, out of range of the attack, was visible still in the ocean.

 _Where did they go?_ Cutter asked Nos, but he didn't have to wait long for an answer. One by one, the orange fins of the Carvanha popped up in a circle around the two pokemon floating in the water below.

Then, without so much of a warning, the Carvanha broke formation and jetted in, slamming one by one into Quagsire and Arbok. Try as his pokemon might, they could not fight back efficiently enough for it to truly matter. For every hit Quagsire and Arbok got, each Carvanha got three more.

Flashes of dark type energy cut through Mud Bombs and jets of water tore Sludge Bombs in half. Arbok was totally out of her element in the water, and Cutter watched as she lashed out with her tail. She made contact, but it seemed to hurt her more than it hurt the Carvanha. In fact, most of the Carvanha were staying as close to Quagsire and Arbok as they could, and it seemed like every time they touched, Cutter's pokemon took damage.

"Rough skin is their ability," the Professor explained when Cutter asked. "Their skin has a rough, damaging quality that makes getting in physical hits almost not even worth it. Except for the ones staying away. Their ability is probably speed boost, so the longer they stay in a battle, the more adrenaline they build up, and the faster they get."

Cutter glanced back down and saw, for the first time in the battle, blood spreading throughout the water. Quagsire and Arbok were barely able to fight and the Carvanha swam away slightly.

"What are they doing?" Cutter asked. "They're winning, why would they back off?"

"I'm afraid…" the Professor began, "that they are letting their leader get the kill," he finished, gesturing towards the Sharpedo that had begun to lazily swim towards Cutter's weakened pokemon.

"I can't do this," Cutter proclaimed, and fished Arbok and Quagsire's pokeballs out of his pocket. In a flash of red, they returned, and Cutter saw the Carvanha glaring upwards at what took their late-night snack away: him.

"We will probably die, do you realize that, Mr. Robinson?"

"I can't sit here and watch my pokemon die, either, Professor. I'm sorry, but I can't." Cutter's voice was firm and unwavering, the exact opposite of what he was feeling. He had always been taught not to talk back to his elders, but there was no way he could just sit up here and watch his pokemon become a meal.

"Maybe… if you catch their leader, they will give up. Carvanha need a leader, they are too weak and simple to operate without one."

Cutter bit his lip. The last thing he wanted was to waste an Ultra Ball on this Sharpedo that he didn't want. But then again, the alternative was much, much worse.

Cutter quickly tore his backpack out of the storage ball and found his last two Ultra Balls at the very bottom of the pack. He sighed and fished them both out before stuffing his backpack back into the storage ball. Both, just in case the first one failed.

"Mr. Robinson, quickly now," the professor whispered, gesturing softly to the agitated water types down below. Sharpedo had finally realized that his dinner was gone and the water was churning around him.

Cutter swiveled around on Nos's back as best he could for the optimal shot. He cocked his arm back and, with the best throw he could muster, let loose the Ultra Ball. For a split second, Cutter was sure that it was going to work, but at the last second, a Carvanha leapt up in front of the ball, and was sucked in in place of its leader. The ball clicked, and Cutter had caught a Carvanha.

"Dammit," Cutter muttered. "I have another one, but the same thing will happen." Cutter glanced at the professor then back down at the ocean, where a Carvanha was poking the ball curiously with its short, flat snout.

"Could we get lower?" The professor asked.

"Is that something we should risk?" Cutter asked.

"I don't think we really have another option," the professor noted, pointing to the water all around the pokemon. Whereas before only the water around the Sharpedo had been churning, now the water around all of them was rising and falling furiously and angrily, obviously being influenced by the pokemon's volatile natures.

 _Nos, drop us_ , Cutter commanded. _Then, as soon as I throw the ball, lift us again_.

A whoosh of air flurried by Cutter's ears as they dropped the few feet quickly, but stopped suddenly. The sudden drop surprised Cutter and the Ultra Ball slipped from his fingers, falling towards the ocean below.

A purple psy energy caught it and Cutter breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would do without Nos.

 _Would you like me to catch it, Father? I believe I can be a tad more accurate than you._ Cutter smiled. If the situation hadn't been so dire, he could have sworn that Nos was being sassy with him.

From the corner of his eye, Cutter saw a flit of orange leap from the water. He turned his head and watched as Nos sprung up a shield with Confusion, but the water and dark type passed through it as if it were made of water.

Then, out of nowhere, a blue electric current from behind Cutter blasted into the Carvanha, throwing it backwards into the ocean. Cutter gulped, his breath caught in his throat, and looked backwards at his savior. The Pachirisu stood tall, or as tall as EleSquirrel pokemon could stand, on Nos's rump, puffing its cheeks out proudly. Cutter smiled softly at the electric type, covered in gashes and bristling with electricity.

Unfortunately, they didn't have long to focus on their slight victory because two more Carvanha sprung out of the water towards them. Once again, Pachirisu blasted them both with a blue electric charge, sending them spiraling back into the ocean.

"Do you think you can hit the big blue one?" Cutter asked, pointing towards the Sharpedo, who was still doing nothing but churning up water around it. It seemed the leader preferred not to get his hands, or fins, dirty.

The Pachirisu nodded and stepped forward, glancing down at its new opponent. Pachirisu hissed softly before leaping straight up and loosing the largest blast of electricity yet, not bothering to aim for Sharpedo. Instead, Pachirisu used Discharge, satisfied with simply electrifying all of the water that the danger resided in. From the shock resulted a deep blue haze, that Cutter had Nos push away.

When it was gone, the unconscious bodies of Carvanha littered the top of the ocean. Only the Sharpedo was left with consciousness.

"Should I still catch it?" Cutter asked.

"Either that or have Pachirisu finish it off," Professor Oak suggested. Cutter preferred the latter more, but Pachirisu was also unconscious, passed out behind Professor Oak.

Cutter sighed and let Nos do the honors, but before the Ultra Ball could connect with Sharpedo, it sank into the ocean's depths.

"Well, that's that," Cutter muttered, placing the unused Ultra Ball back into the storage ball and shoving the used one with the Carvanha into his vest pocket with the rest of his pokeballs.

 _Nos, do you mind getting us out of the area before I get off of you?_

xx

Nos set Cutter down gently in the water right as the fog started to roll in. It was a thick, white fog that, within seconds, had completely eliminated any sight Cutter had. All that he could see in any direction was the white haze.

 _Nos, where are you?_ Cutter called out with his mind. He waited for a second, but there was no answer. _Nos?_ Still nothing. Cutter stared out into the void of white, but it was all that he could see. The bright white haze. But that confused him, because he knew that it was still night. How could the fog be so bright? _And not just bright,_ Cutter told himself, _but almost ghostly_. Cutter didn't know much about Hoenn, but he could not recall any ghost types that lived at sea.

The more he gazed into the white, the less white it seemed. It was almost like there was a whole rainbow of colors within the fog, reflecting and refracting, bouncing and beaming around him, always returning to the bluish white of the fog.

"Whyyyyy?" Cutter let out a startled yelp and swallowed some of the salty ocean water.

"Who's," he coughed, "there?"

"WHY? The nasal voice rang out from all around him.

"Who are you?"

"why?" It was almost a whisper that time, but it was certainly still there. It was almost like it was coming from the fog. But he was in the middle of the ocean. He knew that couldn't be the case.

"Nos? Where are you?" Cutter screamed, desperate for his pokemon to answer him. He heard his voice bounce off of the ocean, but then the sound of water lapping against him resumed. Cutter gulped. Even the mind link he shared with Nos was gone, and for the first time since he had captured Nos was he truly alone.

"NOS!" Cutter screamed, but still the only sound was the ocean's rolling tides. Not even the sound of the voice asking "why" rang out any more. Cutter would have even liked that better, because at least then would have known he wasn't alone.

Cutter's breathing picked up and he found himself hyperventilating. He scrunched his eyes shut and forced himself to take deep breaths. _You'll be okay. Calm down._ But no matter what he told himself, he could not slow his breathing or the frantic thoughts racing through his mind.

"WHY?"

Then, one came to him. One so crazy and improbable that he had no choice but to try. It wasn't like he had any other options. He was getting tired. Plus, he needed to get to land to heal Arbok and Quagsire as best he could. Even though they were in a state of stasis in their pokeballs, they would be better off once they were healed.

"whyyyy?"

Cutter carefully unzipped his vest pocket and pulled out the Ultra Ball containing his newly caught Carvanha. He took a deep breath and released it, mentally preparing for the worst.

Carvanha appeared in the water, its jagged yellow fins on top of its body and the red and yellow of its tail fin were the only parts of it visible in the thick fog. "Carvanha," Cutter began sternly. He had no idea how to deal with this pokemon, they were completely foreign to him, but since this Carvanha had the lead Sharpedo bossing him around, he figured he might as well try a similar, controlling approach. "I'm going to grab onto your fins and you're going to take me to the land, okay?" The water around Carvanha bubbled softly, but Carvanha didn't do anything that made Cutter think it was saying no.

Cutter glanced at the razor sharp fins and sighed. He had no choice but to hold onto them. He reached out and grasped them, his hands erupting in pain. He grit his teeth and held tight, not wanting to show Carvanha any weakness on his part, but the rough skin ability mixed with the razor sharp edges of the fins made it hard. Carvanha's eyes appeared over the surface of the water and they blinked angrily at Cutter.

Another "WHY?!" rang out, this one louder than any other, but Cutter ignored it. "Take me to shore," Cutter muttered in as tough of a tone as he could muster, which was hard with the pain in his hands clouding his mind and obstructing his ability to think. But, Carvanha obeyed. Carvanha sped off, going a little quickly for Cutter's liking, but he held on.

In a matter of moments, Carvanha arrived at a sandy shoreline where the fog seemingly stopped. Cutter let go of Carvanha and dipped his hands in the water, wincing at the stinging that the salt brought on. "Thanks Carvanha," Cutter muttered, but he didn't return him. He didn't know what was on the island and he may need a quick get-away.

He stood up straight and, in the odd, dusk like light that came from seemingly everywhere and nowhere at all on the island, found that the fog seemingly stopped at the edge of the shoreline, as if there were a glass barrier separating the island and the sea. The island didn't appear to be very big, but he couldn't be completely sure. Cutter swiveled on the spot and noticed that he was standing on the only bit of shoreline that there was, at least in his vicinity. Only about fifty feet of it stretched in either direction, cut off by the water and a cliff that stood a hundred feet inshore stretched the entire expanse of the island. With the assistance of the unnaturally bright fog, Cutter could see that there were bushes and shrubs that dotted the rugged landscape up to the top, where it appeared to plateau. Past that, he couldn't see anything at the top. He wasn't sure, but something about this place set him on edge.

"Carvanha, do you know where we are?" Cutter asked, turning back to his newly caught pokemon. Carvanha blinked in response. Cutter bit his lip and scowled. As new as Carvanha was to Cutter, it was nice to have the pokemon's presence, even if Carvanha didn't feel the same about Cutter. But, as much as he liked Carvanha being there, he needed to send Carvanha back out to look for Nos and the Professor.

"Carvanha, go out there and see if you can find Nos and the Professor. In the fog. If they are, bring them back." Carvanha stared at Cutter for a second with its beady eyes before dipping back under the water without. Cutter was alone again.

He looked out into the fog, but still all he could see were the thick white clouds with the colors bouncing around inside. The fog did not look natural, and the longer that Cutter stood on the island, the more uncomfortable he became. No more "why's?" were being called out, but Cutter could almost feel them. They didn't feel sinister, but they didn't feel friendly.

Cutter shivered, wet, cold, and alone on the island. He paced back and forth, anxiously awaiting Carvanha's return with Nostradamus and the Professor. _But Carvanha is so small. What if it can't bring back Nos and the professor._ Then, another thought hit him. _What if Carvanha just leaves. Takes this opportunity to be free_. Cutter frowned and internally scolded himself. There was no point in thinking like that.

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to what felt like hours, but Cutter was sure it was still just minutes, and Carvanha had not returned. He sank to his knees, desperation and fear finally starting to set in. There was a real chance that they would not return, Cutter admitted to himself.

Then, right off the shoreline, breaking through the fog, came the professor, sopping wet and the unconscious Pachirisu, followed by Nos, who promptly collapsed in the shallows. Carvanha swam into the shallows behind them. Cutter leapt up and sprinted to them, tears threatening to overflow from his eyes.

"Nos," Cutter exclaimed, his voice catching in his throat. He knelt down next to his Girafarig and placed his hands under the Long Neck pokemon's head and neck, gently lifting it, so his head could be out of the water. His breathing was labored and Cutter could tell, with every rise and fall of Nos's body, that every breath pained him.

 _Father_. Nos's mind's voice was weaker than he had ever heard it, and Cutter felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion and fear seep into him. He couldn't tell if it was Nos's or his own, but he was grateful to finally be feeling something, no longer numb to the pain.

 _Nos, are you okay?_ "What happened?" Cutter asked the professor, not turning away from his pokemon.

"I… I'm not sure," the Professor answered, his voice faltering. "I've never seen anything like this before. Your Girafarig set you into the water, and then that fog rolled in."

 _My psychic powers… stopped working. In the fog, I could do nothing. I fell and the professor and I got separated in the water._

"And your stomach? Why is it like that?" Cutter asked, noticing a spot on Nos's stomach where the hair was gone, and the normally white underbelly was rubbed raw and bleeding.

 _That is where the Jaws pushed me._ Cutter nodded, realizing that was how Carvanha had saved Nos. Pushing from the stomach.

"I'm afraid that my hands are rubbed as raw as yours are," the professor smiled softly, and Cutter assumed that the Professor had held onto Carvanha the same way he had.

Cutter pulled out Nos's ball and the Girafarig gave him a comforting nod before he was sucked in. Cutter then thanked Carvanha as well before returning him and making his way further inland.

"So do you know where we are?" Cutter asked as he pulled out an assortment of potions and berries, the supply of which was starting to look rather low.

"Somewhere in the south of Hoenn," the professor sighed. "Other than that, I can only guess."

"And do you have any guesses?" Cutter released Arbok first and bit his lip at the sight. Her tough scales had saved her, but there were still gashes in her armor and thick, purple blood that oozed from her wounds. She was conscious, but barely.

"Hey, it's okay," Cutter murmured as he unscrewed the top off of a potion and tipped it into her mouth. Her tongue flicked out weakly in thanks.

"I do," muttered the professor as Cutter fed Arbok another potion. Her tail swished softly in the sand and Cutter sighed with relief.

"And what's your best guess?" He pulled an oran berry out of a pouch and set it on the sand in front of her. He didn't want to rush her into eating if she wasn't ready, but it was the best way for her to get her energy and health back up. Plus, he needed to save some of the potions for his other pokemon.

He reached back into his backpack, searching for some gauze that he knew he had bought just a few weeks before. "All of the signs point to…" the Professor hesitated, and Cutter looked up. The Professor was gazing out into the fog, and its light made him look older. Tired. "Mirage Island."

His hand clasped around the gauze and he pulled it out. "Mirage Island?" He unrolled some of the gauze and wrapped it around the injured portions of Arbok's trunk like body as best he could, while taking care to not touch the poisonous blood on her body.

"Mirage Island is an island in the southern sea of Hoenn that is not so much a mirage as its name would suggest, but more of a flit in existence. Based on how the universe is feeling, it flows in and out of our world. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it is not. Most of the time it is not. It is here now, but in a few hours, it may be gone again for months. Many doubt its existence but, here we are, if I am correct."

Cutter swallowed as he pulled out Quagsire's ball. "Months? We could be here for months?"

The professor finally looked back at him. He almost looked sad. "Maybe longer. Maybe shorter. Time, more than likely, flows differently on this island. This island does not play by the rules of time and space."

Cutter sighed at the Professor's comment, at a loss for words, really. He didn't know what to do, so he released Quagsire. Keep his hands busy and that would keep his mind busy, off the thoughts of being stuck on this island for an indefinite amount of time. Quagsire was not much better than Arbok. Quagsire's body was, at least, designed to take hits from physical pokemon, but the gashes in his side looked just as bad. And they would have to heal on their own with no protection from the gauze that Arbok was granted. His skin was simply too slippery.

"It'll be okay Quagsire," Cutter murmured as he poured a super potion into Quagsire's mouth. "It'll be okay." He put an Oran berry in front of him as well before releasing Nostradamus.

Cutter said nothing, but in a moment Nostradamus had felt Cutter's anxiety and knew exactly what was troubling his trainer. He had no words of comfort to offer, so he sent out a gentle nudge of love and, with an extreme amount of effort stood up and stepped forward. Nos pressed his soft, white muzzle into Cutter's cheek and gave him a gentle lick. Cutter felt tears well up in his eyes and wrapped his arms gently around his psychic pokemon's neck.

When the two pulled away, Nos slowly lowered himself to a kneeling position. Standing for too long in this weakened state was difficult. Cutter uncorked another potion and allowed Nos to slowly build up his psychic abilities again by levitating it and pouring it into his mouth himself. It was shaky and clumsy, but he did it. It seemed that even on the island, out of the fog, his psychic abilities were subdued. He held out another Oran berry and watched as it floated from his hand to Nos's mouth. He swallowed it with one bite.

Cutter stood and turned to the professor who had moved closer to the cliff, inspecting it. "Do you know anything else about this island?" Cutter called.

The professor turned and walked back to him, his strides subdued by exhaustion and the sand. "We can speak more in the morning." The professor paused. "If it ever becomes morning here," the professor gestured to the dim, dusk like light that lit the island.

"And we will sleep…?"

"Here, on the beach," the Professor said. Cutter stared at him. He looked so much like the older Professor Oak, it was uncanny. Cutter didn't know the older Oak personally, but he had watched him on television growing up. He had never seen the two side by side before, and he had never paid that much attention to the younger one anyways. He had always been a little too cynical for Cutter's taste. But all traces of cynicism were gone with the need for survival.

"We need the rest. No telling what tomorrow will bring." The professor pushed a pile of sand into a mound for a pillow and laid down, facing away from Cutter and toward the fog. Cutter sighed and sat down next to Nos. He released the rest of his pokemon, barring Carvanha, and refrained from telling them what was going on, even though they looked curiously at the three injured ones.

Dolos leapt up from the sand into his trainer's arms. He rubbed the small dark type on the head affectionately. He looked around at all of them and felt an ache in his stomach when he remembered that neither Bellow nor Rillo were there. He bit his lip and lied down in the sand, his pokemon curling up close around him.

Cutter lied awake for hours that night staring up at the starless sky that the world of that island provided before finally drifting off into an uneasy and restless sleep with dreams plagued by flashes of blues and pinks that kept him tossing and turning all throughout the night.

xx

Cutter pushed himself up the next morning and his body groaned with pain. It seemed that the previous day's, or night's, Cutter couldn't really tell since it was still the same dusky light on the island, had taken its toll on his body. He looked around and saw Nostradamus, Quagsire, and Arbok still asleep, exhausted, as he was, with the previous day's events, but the rest of his pokemon were awake.

Silver was close by, watching him, and Cutter knew that he was going to have to tell him, at least, what was going on. Dolos was playing at the base of the mountain with Patriot, oblivious to the island they were seemingly trapped on. The Professor was sitting at the edge of the water.

Cutter scooted next to Silver and rubbed him gently behind his horned mask. Silver hummed contentedly and pushed his body into Cutter's side. He wrapped his arm around his first partner and rested his head on Silver's pupae body. The physical contact made Cutter let out a sigh. Even in the hardest, most strange times, simply being with his starter gave him an unexplainable peace. "You get anything to eat?" Silver looked up at him with his dark, unblinking eyes, allowing no emotion to show through.

Cutter sighed, knowing that nothing would deter Silver from learning what was bothering his trainer. Small talk would not work. Cutter gave a brief and condensed version of the previous day's events.

At the end of the story, Silver pressed his body gently into Cutter's side. Cutter felt a weight had lifted off his chest. Even though the events were not any better because of the conversation, it still felt good for Cutter to talk about it. The two sat there in silence, united as one for a moment longer before Cutter pushed himself up. "Gotta feed everyone," he smiled, rubbing Silver behind his mask again.

xx

After breakfast and when his remaining three pokemon had woken up, Cutter noticed the Professor standing at the base of the cliff. "Well, let's go on up," the professor said, turning to Cutter as he walked up to him.

Cutter glanced up at the jagged cliff. He wasn't nervous, per se, but it didn't look like there was a marked-out path, and the going would be rough.

"Don't be nervous," the Professor chuckled. "You'll want to return most of your pokemon, though. Maybe the Passimian can stay out. But I don't think the rest of them will be able to handle it."

Cutter nodded and went back to his team, returning them all except Patriot and Dolos. Dolos could rest on his shoulder as he went up, and Patriot could traverse the cliff with ease.

They going up the cliff was slow and happened in bursts. It was much steeper than they had realized, and they had to stop several times to catch their breath and rest their legs. The professor, it seemed, was not in as good of shape as he used to be. Whenever they paused to take the breaths, Patriot would look back curiously, as if to say "Come on! This is fun!" And Cutter couldn't help but laugh at his pokemon.

Finally, after close to two hours, they reached the peak. The Professor held up a hand to halt him before they crested onto the plateau. "Return your pokemon. Whatever is up here, we don't want them to feel threatened."

Cutter cocked an eyebrow, confused at the Professor's phrasing, but did what he said. "Do you know what's up here?"

"Like I said, I have an idea. Remember when I said I'd tell you everything else that I knew about this island today? Well, hopefully you'll see for yourself and I won't have to say anything else," the Professor said cryptically as he took the last few steps up onto the top of the cliff.

Cutter returned Patriot, but when the Professor's back was turned just put Dolos in his backpack, shushing him with a finger to his lips before tightening it back up.

He sprung up the last few steps and reached the plateau right behind the Professor. The sight took his breath away. Whereas the cliff up was barren and gray, the plateau was lush with vegetation, with trees and berry bushes and small blue shrubs populating the landscape. The grass underfoot was soft and green, and even the dusky gray sky overhead looked brighter. Off to their right there was the gurgling sound of a river. Cutter turned and looked out over the ocean. The fog outside of the island spread out as far as the eye could see. There was nothing beyond it. The cheerfulness that Cutter felt upon his arrival at the top was quickly replaced by hopelessness. He grit his teeth and turned around, forcing himself to appreciate what was there.

Cutter gasped as what he thought were blue shrubs moved. They weren't shrubs at all, he realized. They were pokemon. "What are those?" Cutter asked, his voice a low whisper.

The Professor smiled. "Wynaut. They are the preevolution of Wobbuffet, much the same way Pichu is the preevolution of Pikachu."

"So they're baby pokemon?" Cutter asked as he watched the tiny, baby blue pokemon called Wynaut waddle around the plateau.

"Exactly," the Professor confirmed. "And this is the only place in the world that they are found in the wild."

"Can we go closer?" Cutter asked, just dying to get a closer look at them.

"Sure. The only way they can attack is in retaliation, much like Wobbuffet. With moves like Counter and Mirror Coat."

Cutter followed as the Professor led the way further into the plateau. He laughed to himself as he watched one of the Wynaut trip over its long ears and fall, none of the other Wynaut taking notice. It did not seem that they were very perceptive pokemon at all, because they still had not noticed the humans that were up there with them. Or maybe it was just in their nature not to care. Maybe they knew that they could rebound any attack that someone wished to hurt them with at double the power.

"Professor, what are these berries?" Cutter asked, glancing up at a nearby tree. The berries, a pale yellow with orange red seeds embedded in the outside, were foreign to him.

"They are called Liechi berries. They, just like the Wynaut, are only found here," the Professor replied as stood on his tiptoes to get closer to it, trying to examine the foreign berry.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cutter saw a flash of pink. He turned and, at first, was confused by what he saw. A pink Wynaut? But then he realized what it was.

"Professor," Cutter muttered, pointing to the off colored Wynaut, his breath catching in his chest. It was his opportunity to catch a shiny, which were incredibly rare in the wild.

"Ahh," the professor murmured, a smile playing across his face. "A shiny Wynaut. Incredible. There is no one here to hunt it, so it lives in peace on this island." The Professor turned to find Cutter pulling a pokeball out of his backpack and Dolos's head sticking out as well.

"What are you doing?" the Professor hissed. "I told you to return your pokemon."

"I'm sorry Professor. I thought that Dolos would be okay in my backpack," Cutter muttered, his face growing red with shame.

The Professor opened his mouth to speak, but it was at that moment that Dolos decided to leap out of the backpack. Cutter lunged to catch him, but the Zorua zipped away, running tow the crowd of Wynaut. Cutter watched in confusion as a shimmering black haze surrounded Dolos. When the haze faded away, Dolos was a Wynaut. None of the Wynaut noticed as the fake Wynaut slipped into their midst.

"I am doing my best to hold my tongue right now, Mr. Robinson, but I specifically told you to return your pokemon. Your Passimian, I was not so much worried about. It was the Zorua that I was afraid would do something like _this_." Cutter shuddered, the professor's voice was low and vehement. "These pokemon… they don't get visitors very often, so they don't know how to deal with outsiders like your Zorua. Zorua could introduce some strain of a virus or something that could easily wipe out the population of both the Wynaut and the Liechi berries."

"Dolos does not carry diseases," Cutter hissed back, his face contorting in rage.

"That is not what I was getting at," the Professor retorted. "I simply meant that the species that inhabit this island have a very specific balance and anything, even the slightest nudge, could disturb it."

Cutter and the Professor stood, staring at each other, neither backing down. Finally, Cutter conceded. It was his fault, after all.

"I'm sorry," Cutter muttered.

"Sorry, what? I didn't hear you," the Professor said. _There it is_ , Cutter noticed. The cynicism and sarcasm that the young Oak was known for had finally broken through. He couldn't help but smile. "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing," Cutter said, his smile dissipating.

"Well, we need to figure out a way to get your Zorua back," said the Professor, turning back to Cutter. "Any ideas?"

Cutter's brow furrowed in thought before an obvious answer came to mind. "Yeah, I've got one."

xx

Cutter's plan went off without a hitch. Even the Professor was impressed. He expected something to go wrong. He even told Cutter that.

They used Nostradamus to detect the hole in the pokemon. Since Wynaut were all psychic types and Dolos was a dark type, and Nos's psychic powers could not detect nor affect dark types, Nos could easily look into their midst and find Dolos. The real difficulty in the plan was actually getting Dolos back to them. Luckily, Nos had that all figured out. He was recovered enough to use an, albeit weakened, Miracle Eye. Then he used confusion to pick up Dolos from within the clump of Wynaut and levitate him back to them. Cutter returned Dolos the second Nostradamus had him close enough.

xx

"Well, I say it's time we get back down the cliff. If an opportunity to get off the island presents itself, it may last no more than a moment, and we don't want to be stuck up here, unable to get there," the Professor announced after they had spent a little more time exploring.

Cutter sighed and agreed. The shiny Wynaut had disappeared in all the excitement with Dolos running off, and Cutter was pretty sure that the Professor wouldn't have let him catch it anyways.

They made their way back down the jagged Cliffside, the going down longer than the going up, and on more than one occasion Cutter slipped, only to be caught by Patriot.

When they finally made it to the bottom, Cutter released all of his pokemon and started feeding them lunch. Or maybe dinner. He couldn't tell what the time was. Both his phone and Pokedex clocks had stopped working, and there was no sun to give him any guidance. All he knew was that he was hungry, and his pokemon must be as well.

"Professor, where's that Pachirisu?" Cutter asked, having not seen the electric type that whole day.

"She found a cave a little way down the cliff face and was sleeping there when we started climbing this morning," the Professor said. Then, as if on cue, Pachirisu sped along the beach toward them. "There she is," the Professor smiled, scooping her up as she leapt into his arms.

With some help from Dolos, they got a fire going. They set it up as close to the shore as they could so that Carvanha could be out of his ball as well and enjoy both the people and pokemon out, but the ocean as well. Cutter gazed out at the Strong Jaw pokemon, not sure what to do with it. Him? Her? Cutter wasn't sure. And he couldn't figure out for sure until they got off the island. His Pokedex was glitching like crazy. He wanted to keep the Carvanha, it had saved them after all, but Carvanha naturally belonged in the ocean, and there weren't many of those where Cutter was headed after he got back to Johto. All the oceans in the region were on the western edge, and Cutter was headed back to the east.

"Professor," Cutter said.

"Yes, boy?"

Cutter sighed, keeping his voice low. He didn't want Carvanha to hear him. "My Carvanha, well, I want to keep it, but it belongs in the ocean, and there aren't many of those in the east of Johto. So, I don't know what to do."

The Professor was quiet for a moment, considering the young trainer's words. "Well, Carvanha and Sharpedo certainly do belong in the ocean, but they also can survive in freshwater, and there is plenty of that in the east. And when Carvanha evolves into Sharpedo, he will be able to survive on land."

"How's that?" Cutter asked, bewildered.

"Have you ever seen a Kingdra battle on land?" The Professor asked, tossing a twig into the fire.

"Well, yeah. They levitate."

"Exactly," the Professor said. "Carvanha are not strong enough to do that, but once it evolves into Sharpedo, it will be strong enough to levitate on land. That's not to say that Sharpedo won't be better in water, because it will, but that just means that it will be able to battle on land as well."

Cutter nodded, smiling slightly. So he wouldn't have to give up Carvanha. That one small problem was solved, which felt so nice. The situation he was in at the moment was crappy, but having an answer about that one small thing gave Cutter a relief he didn't know that he needed.

"Professor, what do you know about Tycoon?" Cutter asked, glancing up at the Professor, who looked older than ever in the firelight.

"Not much, boy. Not much at all," the Professor admitted. He sighed before he continued speaking. "They weren't after me. They were after Elm. I was on my way to a conference, to speak in his place. He was supposed to be the one on the train. But I took his place." The Professor paused. "It should have been him. They didn't even notice it wasn't him until we were miles from that train."

There was a sobering silence as the two just sat there, listening to the waves crash and the fire crackle. Finally, the Professor stood up. "I'm going to sleep. Get some rest." The Professor turned and walked away before stopping. Without even turning to look back at him, the Professor said, "I did hear them mention the Mythical pokemon Hoopa." With that, the professor went to bed.

That night, Cutter laid awake for hours, the name Jirachi playing on repeat in his mind. He didn't know much about the mythical pokemon except that it was rumored that it had the ability to grant wishes. At one point, Cutter felt Silver press close against him, and Cutter silently thanked Arceus that his pokemon did not have to worry about the same things that he did. Finally, Cutter drifted off.

xx

 _Flashes of vibrant blues and pinks, pulsating, fading in and out of his sight. They were clearer, more defined than before. He was frozen, completely still, suspended in… what was it? Not air. There was no air here. In space. That was it. He was suspended in space. No air. Yet he could breathe. Or did he even need to breathe? The blues and purples twisted and morphed into pinks and grays, all exceptionally bright in the void in which he hung._

 _THEE HAS'T COMETH TO US_

 _The voice, neither heavenly nor earthly, neither English nor any other discernible language, boomed from all around him. At the same time, a shock of blue pulsed around him. No matter which direction he looked, he could not find the source of the voice. He tried to speak, but no words would form in his mind, let alone come out of his mouth. He was completely blank._

 _YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE_

 _A different voice that time, still booming from all around him, this time with a blast of pink. It sounded, or felt, different. There was no sound associated with the voices. They just… were._

 _He forced a word to come to mind, a single word, that's all that would come. It traced its way from his brain to his mouth to his lips, and then he spoke it into existence. "Why?"_

 _THAT GENT SPEAKS_

 _HOW_

 _THEE SHOULDS NOT BEEST HITHER_

 _The effort from the one word before was too much for him to even attempt to exert again, so his mind slumped back inside itself._

 _WE ART NOT FOR THEE_

 _YOU MUST LEAVE THIS PLACE_

 _THEE DOTH NOT BELONG HITHER_

 _The two voices overlapped and ran over each other, each seeming more angry and desperate than previous._

 _WE CANNOT HARM THEE_

 _YOU ARE BLESSED THAT WE ARE NOT ABLE TO HARM YOU_

 _MUCH TROUBLE WE WOULD BEEST IN_

 _Then, with an explosion of the deepest pink and blue he had ever seen, the two voices exploded out LEAVE, and he was gone from that place._

xx

Cutter sat up suddenly, panting, his clothes soaked completely through with sweat. He had been dreaming. But what about? For the life of him he couldn't remember. He tried, but nothing would come except bright flashes of blue and pink. Finally, he lied back down in the sand, giving his heart the chance to slow down.

"Robinson!" Cutter heard the Professor's voice call. He sat back up, looking around for him. "Get up! Gather your things! There's a ship!"

It took Cutter a moment to register what the Professor was saying. When the words finally sunk in, Cutter sprung up and began returning his pokemon. Cutter scooped up Dolos and his backpack and sprinted to the Professor, who was watching as a huge, yacht like ship closed in the distance to the island. The sky was blue again and the fog had cleared. It was like it was a regular island.

The Professor was shouting and waving his arms, getting their attention, and Cutter started doing the same. The ship got as close to the shore as it could, and a short, older man wearing traditional sailor's garb appeared on deck. "Can I help ya?" he shouted, his voice gruff and weathered.

"We've been stranded on this island!" the Professor called back.

"Well, come on up!" the sailor shouted as he tossed a rope ladder over the edge.

xx

"So, how long did ya say ya'd been stranded?" the sailor asked?

"Two nights," the Professor said.

"Not too awful then. What happened?"

"Remember the Tycoon explosion?" the Professor asked, rubbing Pachirisu behind the ears.

"'Fraid not," the sailor admitted. "I live on this here boat. Don't have television. Just a radio. And I ain't heard o' no explosions lately."

"When was the last explosion you heard about?" the Professor inquired.

"Hmm. 'Bout two months back. Two in one night, actually," the sailor replied as he turned the wheel.

The Professor's face went white, and he opened his mouth and closed it several times before any words finally came out. "Two?"

"Oh, yeah. A ship and an island. Only four or five people survived on the ship. Everyone on the island was killed. Includin' a couple o' League Officials," the sailor said. "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Cordon." Cordon turned and held out his hand to shake theirs, but both Cutter and the Professor were in shock and didn't register it. "You two alright?"

"Two months?" the Professor croaked out.

"Yeah. Give or take. Why you so interested?" Cordon asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Because we… we were on that island and escaped. Two days ago," Cutter said.

"Oh. I see," Cordon murmured. "That means…" he trailed off.

"What? What does that mean?" the Professor asked, standing, startling Pachirisu who's cheeks bristled in annoyance.

"That musta been Mirage Island I rescued you from." Cordon said as his face morphed into a deep frown. "Been lookin' for that there island for years, never found it. Now, when I did, I ran from it jus' as quick as could be." Cordon stepped out of the cabin, Cutter right behind him, but the island had faded away, the horizon where the sky met the sea was the only thing behind them.

xx

 **Hey! Thanks for reading. Enjoyed writing this chapter, even if it was a bit challenging. Ultimately, it did not go where I planned for it to go! As I got to writing, the story started taking me in a different direction than I expected! Huge thanks to Melior for test reading for me! PM me any questions or thoughts you have and like, subscribe and review! Thanks and Happy Holidays everyone.**


	19. Platforms

Cutter stared at the waves lapping at the side of the boat as he absentmindedly stroked Dolos, who pressed himself against Cutter's leg, purring softly.

"Pacifidlog straight ahead," Captain Cordon called out from his spot at the wheel. Cutter's head shot up and he scanned the horizon. Sure enough, just coming into sight, was a small town. For a moment, Cutter found himself in a state of confusion. The town was… floating?

The Professor must have been reading his mind because the younger Oak said, "the town is built on rafts and logs, tethered to the ocean floor below."

Cutter nodded and stood, making his way to the front of the boat to get a better look at the town. Dolos followed behind, hissing at his trainer, begging, no demanding, that the petting continue.

The town didn't appear to be very large. Then again, he didn't see how it could be. It was in the middle of the ocean. "How does it work?" Cutter asked, looking back at the Professor, but it was Cordon who answered.

"This is the calmest part of the ocean in all of Hoenn. Not a storm or current within five miles of this place. They get all of their food shipped in from the mainland. There's a population of probably five-hundred or so. A couple of good trainers have come out of here."

Cutter turned back as the town grew larger and larger, and within minutes, the boat was docking and they were climbing off the boat.

For a moment, Cutter thought that he was going to fall, but Professor Oak steadied him with a tired smile. He looked older than Cutter remembered on Mirage Island.

"The Pokemon Center is right over there," Cordon said, pointing toward a red roofed building. "I'm going to get the boat all hooked up and then I'll be over."

Cutter and the Professor made their way to the Pokemon Center as best they could. The only way to get there was by traversing swaying bridges balanced on nothing but the ocean, and more than once Cutter's foot was submerged in the warm ocean water.

Finally, after more than one dead end, Cutter and the Professor reached the Pokemon Center. They approached the sliding glass doors and made their way inside. Cutter dropped his pokemon off with the attendant at the front desk as the Professor waited behind him, wanting to drop off Pachirisu as well.

"We will announce your name when they're ready," the attendant smiled. Cutter thanked him and decided to find the cafeteria. He didn't realize just how hungry he was.

"Mr. Robinson, came a voice from behind him, "I need to speak with you." Cutter turned around and there stood one of the most powerful trainers in all of Hoenn: The Champion, May Birch. She was tall, with shoulder length brown hair and piercing gray eyes. While initially she had been a top Contest Coordinator, she turned to battling in her late twenties, and she absolutely soared. The way her pokemon battled with the grace and elegance of Contests baffled opponents, allowing her to, more often than not, sweep them without losing a pokemon. If she was a good Coordinator, she was a Masterclass Trainer. "I'm sorry to have to break up this little family reunion, but the Hoenn League has to perform an investigation first."

"If you'll just come with me," Champion May said as she turned and walked down the hall. Cutter followed behind, turning into a small conference room when she did. Champion May closed the door behind them and locked it. She paused for a moment before unlocking it and opening the door. She pulled a pokeball from her belt and released her signature pokemon, a Blaziken named Ginger. The red and cream colored fire type was tall and strong. "Guard the door. Make sure no one comes by." Ginger nodded before turning away, eyeing the hall, as if daring anyone to come along.

"So," May said, sitting down across the table from Cutter. "Well, sit." Cutter complied, even though the nerves that flowed through his body made it almost impossible.

May twirled a pokeball in between her fingers. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Finally, The Champion broke the silence. "Lionel said that you've had something like this happen before?"

Cutter just stared at her. "Lionel?"

She sighed. "Yes. Lionel Reed, the Champion of your region?"

"Ahh," Cutter breathed. "Yes. When he wanted to interview me, he put me to sleep and had his Musharna look into my mind."

"Well, that's exactly what's going to happen here." May said. "If you comply. If not, it'll happen eventually, just much more of a drawn out process with the police and more League Officials and I can ensure you have your trainee position within your League revoked."

Cutter stared at her. "I wasn't going to deny it." She started laughing.

"I know, I know. I was joking."

"Sorry," Cutter mumbled. "I haven't been around people in a while."

May smiled and reached across the table, taking his hand. "I'm not Lionel. I know how to laugh." She gave it a squeeze before letting go. Cutter smiled. "So, this is Nadia, my Hypno," May said as the yellow pokemon appeared from the Pokeball. Cutter made eye contact with the Hypno. His eyes wandered down to the Hypno's pendulum, which was "You'll wake…" and Cutter drifted off before she could finish her sentence.

xx

Cutter's eyes opened slowly as he sat up, a trail of translucent drool connecting his lip to the cold metal table he was slumped over on. He quickly wiped the spittle away and blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

"Good morning, sleepy head," May smiled from across the table.

"How long was I out?" Cutter asked, his voice scratchy. He coughed to clear his throat.

"Thirty minutes," May smiled. Ginger was posted behind her, arms crossed. "Nadia got your story and we submitted it to our Hoenn League."

"What… what happened?" Cutter asked.

"What do you mean?"

"After the Professor and I disappeared. With Tycoon," Cutter said.

"Ahh," May sighed. "Yes." She paused, staring down at the floor. Finally, she looked back up at him. "They have several strongholds in Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh, and Kalos that we have not been able to take down. It seems that their numbers and strength are far grander than we realized. And for every stronghold and base of theirs that we do find, there are two more that we don't know about. They are growing at an incredible rate."

There was silence for a moment as Cutter let that sink in. Tycoon was growing and not even the Leagues in the various regions were currently able to stop them. "What are you doing?" Cutter asked, sounding much more abrasive than he meant to, but he didn't care. "One of my friends died in the boat explosion a few days ago." Cutter caught himself. Really it had been a few months.

"Mr. Robinson," May said, her tone fiery and dangerous, her eyes alight with passion. "That boat explosion was several months ago. You have been gone and we have been doing our best. You have never had to deal with an organization like this before. You don't know our protocol nor the measures we have to take. We must take into account the citizens of our regions, not to mention the environment and the pokemon living there." She paused and took a breath. Cutter stared up at her, his body shaking nervously. May, while a kind-hearted woman and terrific leader and Champion, could be scary. She opened her mouth and when she spoke again, her tone was softer. "Cutter, you have to leave this up to the professionals. I understand that you are a League Trainee, but most of us have been doing this much, much longer than you."

Cutter nodded softly, his eyes downcast, fixed on smudge on the metal table.

"I was your age when I first had to deal with this as well."

Cutter looked up at her. She was gazing past him and she looked tired and worn. "Really?"

"Teams Aqua and Magma were fighting to awaken the Legendary Beasts Kyogre and Groudon. Before then, they were merely myths, rumors, forces of nature. But when they succeeded in awakening them, our region was turned over on its head. It wasn't until the mighty Rayquaza descended from the heavens and stopped their brawling." May sighed. "It may come to that again. We may have to depend upon a god-like pokemon to save us, if Tycoon succeeds."

"What do you mean if they succeed?" Cutter asked.

"I have said too much. It is up to your League to tell you, if they wish to do so." May switched the subject. "But on the topic of your friend, Natasha Lexington, correct?"

Cutter nodded.

"She's alive. She escaped the boat before it exploded. Managed to save a couple of civilians as well, while she was at it." Cutter let out a breath, a sigh of relief, and his shoulders felt like a weight had been lifted.

"Where is she now?" Cutter asked. The Gallade sitting in its Pokeball at the bottom of his backpack suddenly came back to him. He had completely forgotten about the psychic type.

"She is in Slateport, where her family lives. And your family too, now, if I'm not mistaken."

"Mossdeep, I think," Cutter murmured, his heart fluttering. Natasha was alive! He couldn't believe it.

"Ahh, yes, Mossdeep. Well, just across the ocean anyway," May smiled. "Now, I think your family wants to see you. They have had a stressful couple of months without you. It's time for you to be officially reunited."

"They're here?" Cutter asked.

"No, no. They're back home. Mossdeep, not Slateport, I've recently learned," she winked. Cutter smiled, excited to see his family again. "Planes only come here every so often, simply because this town is floating on the ocean, so a plane will come tomorrow for us." Cutter opened his mouth, but, as if she had read his mind, May continued. "It's a private League plane. Don't worry. No chance of this one being hijacked." Cutter smiled softly. "Well, I think I'm done with you. I need to speak with Professor Oak. Go get some food from the cafeteria."

xx

Cutter sat at the video phone, rolling a tiny Pokeball in his hand. Inside of it was Rillo, his Flaaffy. His stomach fluttered, filled with Butterfree as he passed the Pokeball from one hand to the other. For some reason, he was nervous to see her again. Maybe it was because she had been on her own without him for several months, or maybe it was something else. He couldn't really put a finger on it.

Finally he stood and, without putting it off any longer, released Rillo. She appeared in front of him and for a moment, they just locked gazes, neither breaking it. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rillo leapt forward into his arms and Cutter buried his face into the thick blue wool of her neck, tears he didn't realize would come rolled down his cheeks into her fur.

" _Laaa_ ," Rillo cooed.

"I'm so sorry girl," Cutter whispered. She responded by shocking him slightly. Cutter responded by squeezing her tighter.

They stayed that way for several moments, Cutter not wanting to be the first to pull away. After a minute, Rillo was the one to break the hug.

"How are you?" Cutter asked, rubbing a stray white hair away from her neck.

The Flaaffy sighed and looked at the ground.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here now. I'm so sorry that I wasn't with you." Cutter lifted her chin and saw her eyes, wet and watery. "No, no don't cry," Cutter whispered, pulling her close again. "You'll never be away from me like that again," Cutter promised, and he meant it. He knew that technically Lionel had not given him permission to keep all of his pokemon with him until after he got all of his badges, but he didn't care. After being apart from Rillo for so long, he never wanted to be separated from any of his team again.

When they broke apart again, Rillo was no longer crying. Instead, a smile lit up her small pink face, and Cutter couldn't help but smile back.

xx

Cutter sat by the window of his room, stroking Rillo absentmindedly as he watched as his Carvanha leapt up out of the water before diving back in again. He had requested a room on the edge rather than interior just so Carvanha could be in the water whenever Cutter was in the room. He wanted the water-type to be in the ocean as much as possible, because once they went back to Johto, there would be no more oceans for a while for the Savage pokemon to enjoy.

Cutter pulled out the Pokedex and scanned his newest member of the team, finally getting a chance to look into it.

 _Carvanha, the Rough Skin pokemon. Carvanha is a water and dark type pokemon. Each school has its own territory. It is said to swarm any foe that invades their territory._ Cutter chuckled at that, remembering the night when the pack of Carvanha attacked him and the Professor. _On their own, this pokemon suddenly turns timid. This Carvanha has the ability Rough Skin and is a male. It knows the moves Bite, Aqua Jet, Swagger, Water Gun, and Agility._

Cutter closed the Pokedex and set it on the window pane. A pretty dismal moveset, he admitted, but Carvanha was still young, and according to the bit of research he had done while on the island, Carvanha had the potential to learn a good host of moves. He wasn't too worried.

He waited for the Carvanha to leap back up out of the water before calling out for him. Carvanha swam lazily to his trainer, looking up out of the water with big, red eyes that perpetually seemed to be glaring.

"How would you feel about a nickname?" Cutter asked.

The two yellow dorsal fins on top of Carvanha's body twitched slightly and his red eyes looked upwards, unblinking. Cutter stared back, his eyes watering. He didn't want to break the staring contest. It was important for him to be the dominant one in this relationship, and Carvanha was still looking for any weakness it could in the young trainer. Carvanha would listen to Cutter, but he hadn't exactly warmed to him. That was something Cutter wanted to work on.

Finally, Carvanha blinked, acknowledging, even a tiny, defeat, before nodding. "Perfect," Cutter sighed as he turned away and blinked furiously, trying to return some moisture to his eyes.

He had had a lot of time to think about nicknames for the water type, and he thought he had come up with the perfect one. Carvanha apparently agreed as well, which surprised Cutter. He had expected Carvanha to be much more resistant to any of Cutter's initial ideas. He smiled as he typed the new name into the Pokedex, officially registering Carvanha as "Daku."

xx

Cutter wandered out of the Pokemon Center, wanting to head to the Pokemon Mart to find a pair of thick-hide gloves so that he could touch Carvanha without losing several layers of skin in the process. He had seen May on his way out and she told him that it was four bridges straight, two platforms left, one more bridge to the right, and finally it would be there. Cutter wasn't sure what that meant, but he was sure he could find it.

He released Daku into the water and smiled as the water and dark type dove deep into the ocean. Dolos sat on his shoulder, soaking in the warm, almost hot Hoenn sun. It was much hotter here than he was used to and he was tempted to take off his vest, but then he wouldn't have anywhere on his immediate person to keep his pokeballs. He needed the quick access to them, especially with everything going on.

Cutter reached up and stroked Dolos behind the ears, the dark type purring contentedly. Soft waves lapped up onto the bridge as he made his way from one platform to the next, the water barely touching his shoes before retreating back off of the bridge.

He had just made it to the third platform when the familiar roar of a plane sounded overhead. Cutter looked up, confused, but no plane was in sight. He thought that no planes were supposed to come until tomorrow. He shrugged and kept on.

He barely made it five more steps when a resounding _boom_ exploded out and he felt a blast of heat wash over behind him. The resulting shockwave knocked him to all fours. He whipped his head over his shoulder and saw the platform directly next to the Pokemon Center on fire. A faint whistling sounded and Cutter watched as a large red and white ball fell from the plane and struck the next platform, the one closer to him. Another explosion. Emblazoned on the side of the plane was a deep red " _T_ " that sent chills through Cutter's spine. Tycoon.

Cutter looked around wildly, Dolos had fallen off of his shoulder when the blast had struck. His eyes settled on the small dark type and he promptly returned him to his Safari Ball.

Cutter quickly sent out Nostradamus and Silver and called Daku up from the ocean's depths. Immediately, a wave of calm washed over him and Cutter silently thanked Nos for the assistance. Silver pressed the crest of his shell against Cutter's leg and Cutter rapped his knuckles against the rock type's shell in thanks. Silver rumbled in response.

"Silver and Daku, go put out the fires on the other platforms," Cutter commanded. "And Daku, make sure Silver doesn't fall in." Daku blinked in response before ducking back under the water, just a shadow under the surface. But he stayed close to the platforms as Silver made his way to the fires, making sure the rock type was safe. Well, Cutter admitted, safe might be a stretch. Making sure he didn't fall in, that was a better bet. Daku probably didn't care for Silver too much. Hell, Daku didn't even care for Cutter that much.

Cutter pushed the thoughts from his mind as he released Quagsire. At the same time, another whistle sounded out, this one much closer than the last. Cutter spun around in time to see another red and white bomb falling towards their platform.

Quagsire loosed a blast of water, launching the bomb, which Cutter realized now was either a Voltorb or Electrode, he couldn't tell which, back towards the plane, missing narrowly. The electric pokemon exploded in mid-air.

"Thanks Quagsire," Cutter smiled. "That's your jobs," he said, turning to Quagsire and Nostradamus. "Make sure no more bombs make contact."

 _Yes Father_ , Nos thought.

" _Quwaa,_ " Quagisre gurgled.

"But at the same time, try and knock that plane out of the sky." Cutter knew that was a long shot, but he figured they might as well try.

Cutter glanced up at the plane to see a figure descending from it, falling rather quickly. At the last second the figure flipped forward and landed on the same platform Cutter was on. The man was tall and muscular and Cutter recognized him oh so clearly. Titus.

When Titus saw who it was his grimace turned upwards. "So we meet again," he snarled. Cutter looked around for May, hoping the Champion would come to help him.

As if reading his mind, Titus said, "Hoping for someone to save you? I'm afraid that won't be happening. Two of our other Officers are handling her right now."

Cutter gulped, believing that the brutish man was not bluffing.

"So," Titus drawled. "Do you want to talk, or do you want to battle?"

Cutter stood his ground, trying to put off the battling as long as possible. His pokemon had won the battle last time, but Titus had been in a rush to leave. He didn't know if he could win a second time. "We have your pokemon." Titus's angry face turned into one of confusion, so Cutter continued. "Your Pachirisu." From confusion, to anger. "I didn't know a big man like yourself could have such a dainty and cute pokemon. Cutter didn't think it possible, but the man's face grew even more outraged.

"I left it behind, didn't I? It didn't do its job, and I left it behind. It's a useless pokemon."

Anger flared inside of Cutter, and even the pulsating red fury that Nos was radiating only furthered the feeling.

"Let's battle," Cutter snarled as he released Arbok, Patriot, and Rillo. Then, after a moment of consideration, let out Dolos as well, but held the small dark type in his arms.

Titus laughed and let out the same Manectric, Linoone, and Cacturne as before, then following them came a large water type that Cutter knew as Whiscash that slipped into the water, which Quagsire quickly followed, a huge flying type that Cutter didn't recognize, and a Solrock.

 _Nos, can you help pass my commands onto them?_

 _Yes, Father._

 _And let me know if Quagsire is in trouble in the water._

 _Yes, Father._

Then, all hell broke loose. Patriot, not easily forgetting Titus from the Tycoon base leapt forward, swinging an Iron Tail at the Linoone, which was intercepted by a spinning Solrock. Cutter watched briefly as Patriot grappled with the psychic type before turning his attention to Rillo, who was launching Thunderbolts at the flying type, who was dodging all of them, if only barely, before launching Air Slashes back at Rillo.

Arbok was wrapped around the Linoone, squeezing without abandon as the Linoone snapped and snarled at the poison type. The Linoone finally wriggled free and lashed out with a Shadow Claw that tore several protective scales from Arbok's hide. Arbok hissed and reared back, unfolding her hood. Linoone took one look and was entranced, swaying back and forth in time with Arbok. Then, out of nowhere, the flying type slammed into Arbok, throwing it into the water, and Manectric blasted it with a thunderbolt.

Cutter screamed "NO" and ran towards the edge of the platform, fumbling with Arbok's Great Ball. Finally, with hands shaking, he returned the sinking poison type.

He turned back to see Nostradamus struggling to hold off both the Manectric and the Linoone. Cutter's team was outnumbered. Silver and Daku were fighting fires two platforms away. He glanced over and it seemed that Silver and Daku were fighting a losing battle. The fires were still roaring on the second platform, and the third platform away had begun to sink into the ocean.

"SILVER, DAKU!" Cutter screamed. The fires would have to wait. He could only hope that the two pokemon could hear him. It was at that moment that he realized that Dolos was missing as well.

Manectric leapt over Nostradamus who was busy subduing Linoone with a psychic, and all at once, Cutter was alone with the electric type. He could no longer worry about Dolos. He had to worry about himself. The pokemon crept towards him with an odd smile on its face.

Manectric's maw opened and its teeth were enveloped in an electric energy. It hunched back on powerful legs, ready to pounce. It leapt forward, and Cutter threw an arm up over his head, as if that would help, but the Thunder Fang never came.

Cutter opened his eyes to see Quagsire grappling with the Manectric. Tears of gratitude flooded Cutter's eyes as Quagsire fought to gain the upper hand, all of Manectric's electric type attacks bounced harmlessly off of Quagsire's blubbery blue body.

Cutter looked up as a water gun from the ocean connected with the flying type. He looked back to find Daku launching Water Gun after Water Gun at the various opposing pokemon, but focusing mainly on the assaulter coming from the air.

Cutter looked back to the battle, hope starting to rise in his chest. The flying type, weighed down with all of the water from Daku's attacks, was starting to slow, its Air Slashes missing wildly.

Cutter pumped his arm as one of Rillo's Thunderbolts, strengthened by the water soaking the flyer, connected, sending it plummeting to the platform below.

But his hope was short lived. Solrock had Patriot encased in a psy energy bubble, the fighting type unable to move. Rillo, about to fire another Thunderbolt at the fallen flying type, was laid out by a Sucker Punch from the Cacturne, who up until now had been by its trainer's side.

The two of them began to grapple, Rillo's electric type attacks doing next to no damage to the grass type.

A roar of reds and oranges flared up in Cutter's mind and he found himself both angrier than before, but also more open. He recognized it as Nostradamus's Miracle Eye. Cutter's eyes rolled back in his head, and he could no longer see the battle, only feel it through Nostradamus, as an extension of himself.

 _The dark type, previously unknown to The King, was picked up and slammed into the platform with such force that it broke through the wood slates and fell into the ocean below._

 _Nostradamus turned his attention to the psychic type assaulting The Playful One. Focusing all of his energy, he blasted a ball of ghostly energy, shocking Father who did not know that The King knew how to do that, slamming into the psychic and rock type, giving The Playful One enough of a window to escape. The King left his focus on The Playful One just long enough to see an Iron Tail slam into the opposition. The King could feel that The Playful One would win that fight._

 _The King passed over the flying type who was easily being overtaken by The Lightning, the one who should evolve but hasn't. It puzzled The King, but now was not the time to focus on that._

 _The Protector was battling with the normal type that The King had been fighting with previously, but The Protector could take care of it on his own. He would not appreciate if The King stepped in. Besides, The King now had much more to focus on._

 _The Jaws was fighting an even footed battle in the water with the pokemon of the same typing as The Oblivious One. No, that was not what The King needed to focus on. From one of the Black Aura'ed humans Pokeballs came a huge, angry pokemon, one that The King had no previous knowledge of. But The King knew that it would take everything he had in order to take it down._

 _But, from within The King came a pulling from The Father. The Illusion needed to be found and brought back to Father. The King switched focus quickly, scanning the platform, the Miracle Eye still in full effect, but fading, The King could tell. He could only keep the ability up for so long. Finally, his inner eye settled on the small dark type who had taken on the look of the normal type and was trying to get close to the human with the black aura. The King knew that could only end poorly. The Illusion was smart, but untrained. With a long-reaching Psychic, The King grabbed the tiny dark type and weaved him in and out of broken boards and brawling pokemon, setting the transformed Illusion back into Father's hands._

 _The King turned his focus back to the brute across the platform, the brute that towered over the human with the black aura by at least two of the human, that towered over even The King by several feet, and The King was tall. He had grown considerably recently._

 _The King disconnected the Miracle Eye. It was wearing him down and he knew that he would not need it to fight the giant. It was not of the dark typing._

Cutter slouched to his knees, his eyes rolling forward. Dolos was back in his hands. _How did that happen?_ He looked wearily about the platform, struggling to focus on the battle that ensued, but what finally drew his eye was a giant of a pokemon in front of Titus. Cutter gasped when he saw it. It was a Steelix, but it wasn't. It was a Steelix like he had never seen before. Where Steelix usually had thick, metallic stumps sticking out if its body, instead this Steelix had pink and yellow crystals, just as thick as usual. Its jaw was extended and sharpened more than the typical Steelix and there were strange blue circles along its body. Bits of rock and crystal floated around it, almost like it was a small planet. Staring it down was Nostradamus.

Something wasn't right about that pokemon, and Cutter didn't want Nostradamus to try and challenge it.

 _Father, I must_ , Nostradamus thought to him. A wave of calm flowed from the psychic and normal type, but it did nothing to help him. Then, their Mind Link was gone.

 _Nos,_ Cutter thought. _NOS!_ But the thought echoed emptily in his head.

Nostradamus bound forward, throwing bits of wood and rock out of his way with his psychic abilities as he sprinted towards his biggest challenge ever. Cutter fumbled with Nos's Premier Ball, but the red beam of light couldn't connect with the Girafarig. Too much debris was in the way.

 _Damn it,_ Cutter thought as he began to run after Nostradamus.

"Your Girafarig is brave, boy. Shame I'm going to have to kill it. I could have made some good money off of it," Titus laughed.

From the corner of his eye, Cutter watched as the Solrock that Patriot had been grappling with fly into view, slamming into Titus. Titus fell and did not get up again. The Steelix did not notice that its trainer had fallen. Instead, with a huge, crystal tail, it swung out, tearing a huge gash in the wooden floor of the platform. Nostradamus leapt over the tail, assisted by his psychic ability before launching what Cutter thought was an attempt at Focus Blast at the Steelix, but it was small and missed wildly, flying straight up into the air instead.

 _"SLAAAEEEE,"_ the Steelix roared as it course corrected and flicked its tail upwards, connecting with a sickening _crunch_ with Nos's midsection, launching Nos into the air. Nos fell and, with yet another _crunch_ , Steelix's tail slammed Nos out towards the ocean.

"Quagsire!" Cutter screamed, pointing wildly at Nos as his partner skidded across the surface of the ocean before beginning to sink into the churning waters.

Quagsire threw the Manectric off of him and bounded to the edge of the platform. Manectric leapt forward and, with an Ice Fang, grabbed Quagsire's tail and pulled him away.

Cutter was panicking. With quick, heavy breaths, Cutter ran to the edge of the platform, kicking off his shoes as he ran, noticing that the gash in the platform had started to let in water. It wouldn't be long before it sank. Cutter ignored the icy cold of the ocean and dove in, swimming wildly towards where he thought Nos was.

Cutter felt a burst of water speed past him, but he didn't look up. He didn't have time. He had to get to Nos. He ignored the burning in his lungs that begged him for air and kept on.

Finally, he couldn't hold it anymore. He lifted his head up and grabbed a breath. He was halfway between the two sinking platforms and had no idea where Nos was. He swung his head around wildly, trying to find a landmark or something, anything that would signal where his pokemon was.

From the corner of his eye, Cutter saw a flash of white. Cutter kicked towards it as fast as he could, his legs burning with exhaustion. It was Nostradamus. _But how?_ Cutter pushed the question from his mind and returned the Girafarig.

That's when he saw it. Daku. Daku had been pushing Nos to the surface. Daku had been the burst of water that sped past him as he swam towards Nos. It had been Daku. Cutter reached out and laid a thankful hand on the water and dark type, ignoring the burning of torn skin that Daku's Rough Skin ability awarded him.

 _"Curra,"_ Daku gurlged, then when Cutter still didn't catch on, shook slightly. Cutter caught the message. He grabbed onto Daku's twin yellow dorsal fins and the Carvanha sped him back to the platform, back to, relative, safety.

Cutter clambered back onto the platform and thanked Daku before turning away. He then turned back, but Daku was gone, speeding away towards the behemoth of a Steelix, firing water guns as he went.

Cutter's pokemon had effectively taken down the rest of Titus's pokemon, and they were all now focused on their final and greatest challenge.

Quagsire and Silver worked together to blind the steel type, Quagsire launching Mud Bombs and Silver blasting Sandstorms into the behemoth's eyes. Patriot leapt around Steelix's body like a jungle gym, landing Brick Break after Brick Break into every part of Steelix that he could. Rillo was throwing Thunderbolts at Steelix's gaping maw and Daku loosed Water Guns at every opportunity.

But still, even with all of his pokemon working together, they were still fighting a losing battle. Steelix's body twisted just as Patriot landed on a new metallic segment, sending the Passimian to the ground. The steel type followed with a hefty Iron Tail that would have taken out Patriot had Daku not fired a water gun that connected with the fighting type, throwing him out of the way. The Iron Tail connected with the platform and a tremor rippled across it, throwing Cutter to the ground as more water gushed in from the gashes in the platform.

Then, out of nowhere, a Blaziken that wasn't quite a Blaziken leapt into the fray. It moved with speed unlike anything Cutter had ever seen, and even though his eyes couldn't quite follow it, he still couldn't look away.

The faux Blaziken slammed a fiery kick straight between the steel behemoth's eyes and the faux Steelix roared a terrible sound that reminded Cutter of metal grinding together. He covered his ears to block out the sound as best he could, but still it penetrated and shook his bones.

He couldn't look away until May appeared silently behind him. She laid a hand on his shoulder and he jumped. When he saw that it was just her, he calmed, although his heart-rate refused to slow.

"Return your pokemon," she commanded. She was no longer the giggling girl he had chatted with earlier that day. She was a Champion in charge.

"What's up with those pokemon?" he asked, gesturing towards the brawling pokemon that did not look quite right.

"I'll explain later. Return your pokemon. I have to get you out of here." Her voice was unwavering and Cutter complied immediately, his pokemon protesting as they disappeared into their pokeballs.

Her Hypno Nadia appeared silently next to them. Then, with an odd tugging and the feeling that he might vomit, Cutter disappeared from the platform.

They reappeared just a second later, and Cutter fell to his knees, coughing and trying not to throw up.

"It will pass," May muttered, her mind other places.

Finally, once Cutter felt as if he would not lose the contents of his stomach, he spoke. "What happened out there? Where are we? Who…"

May cut him off. "I'll explain shortly. I have to go." And then, with no noise or flash of light, her Hypno transported the two of them away, leaving Cutter alone with Dolos.

He pushed himself up to his feet and set the dark type on the floor, but commanded him, "Stay with me. Do not run off."

Dolos nodded and rubbed against his trainer, purring at him.

Cutter looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time. He was in a giant hall completely undecorated except for a single desk at the far end, next to a giant set of beautiful wooden double doors. Sitting at the desk was a woman. She had not noticed Cutter or the scene that had just transpired with the Champion. She was busy typing something furiously on the computer.

He made his way to her and, when he was close enough, called out, "Hello?"

She jumped slightly and let out an "oh" before standing up and regaining her composure. "How did you get in here?" Cutter noticed that her hand was on a pokeball at her waist.

"May brought me here. I was in Pacifidlog when Tycoon attacked." Suddenly, Cutter felt very tired and a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

"I see," the woman said as she brought him a chair. "Have a seat."

"Can I heal my pokemon," Cutter asked, remembering Nostradamus being thrown across the ocean by the giant Steelix that wasn't quite a Steelix.

"Yes, yes. Give them to me, I can take them to our resident staff of Nurses and Doctors," the woman said. "I'm Dot, by the way," she added as she took his Pokeballs, leaving him with just Dolos.

She scurried away, opening the giant double doors and Cutter called out, "The Girafarig in the Premier Ball. He's hurt." Dot nodded in understanding and disappeared.

After a few minutes, Dot came back and told him his pokemon would be alright. Other than that, she wouldn't tell him anything, not even where they were. It wasn't under her jurisdiction, she informed him. He figured they were in Ever Grande City, the home of Hoenn's Elite Four and Pokemon League, but he couldn't be sure.

He was going stir crazy. He tried sitting, and standing, and pacing, but nothing was really working. After a while Cutter asked Dot if there was anywhere that he could train Dolos, and she led him through the double doors to a small practice field.

To keep his mind off of everything, he worked with Dolos. They didn't work on any new moves, instead focusing on stamina and increasing the power of current moves. Since Dolos was a dark type, he didn't have any of the troubles that Bellow had when learning Feint Attack, and Dolos had it mastered without a mentor. It just wasn't terribly strong. Their biggest obstacle was Ember. It was the weakest of all of his moves because Dolos wasn't fire type as well, and Ember was just a weak move in general. Eventually they would work it enough for it to become Flamethrower, but for now they just needed to improve it for what it was.

xx

Several hours later, Cutter and Dolos were laying on the floor of the practice room, completely exhausted, when May walked in. There were bags under her eyes and a large burn on her left arm. She definitely looked worse for wear, but still, when she spoke, there was a sort of joyful charisma to her. She knew that as the Champion she had to keep up that façade of hope for her people.

"Mr. Robinson," she said, holding up her hand before Cutter could say anything. "I will explain." And she did. Tycoon had known that both May and the younger Professor Oak would be in Pacifidlog that day. They also knew that her protection would be limited because of certain, previously thought secret, movements going on in the north of Hoenn by the other four members of the Elite Four that required more man power. Champion May suspected a leak in their intel. Everyone in The League would have to be investigated. Tycoon expected a much more overwhelming success against May and the Professor and, May told him, it was largely thanks to Cutter that they did not experience one. He had taken one of their main officers and diverted his attention. Otherwise May would have had to deal with three, not two, and the Steelix would have come out much sooner. Titus had not seen Cutter as a true threat and, as a result, saved Steelix. He never expected Cutter to prevail against his pokemon.

"And that Steelix?" Cutter asked. "And your Blaziken?"

May paused, considering her words. "Mega Evolution. Have you ever heard of it?"

Cutter thought, maybe the words had passed him by at some point, but he had no information on it. "No," he answered.

"Well," May began. "Certain pokemon are capable of Mega Evolving. It's like evolution, but it is much, much more powerful than your average evolution, and it is only temporary."

"Temporary?" Cutter interrupted.

"Yes. Once the battle ends, the pokemon reverts back to its original form. It is not permanent. But these super-powered evolutions are not accessible to just anyone. You need both a Key Stone and a Mega Stone. Key Stones are held by the trainer and are used to trigger the evolution. Mega Stones are held by the pokemon and react to the Key Stone. Key Stones can trigger any Mega Evolution, but each pokemon has to have a specific Mega Stone. Like my Blaziken has to have a Blazikenite in order to Mega Evolve. If my Blaziken was holding a Steelixite, then it wouldn't work. Not to mention you have to have an extremely tight bond with the pokemon in order for it to work. Not every Blaziken is capable of Mega Evolving."

There was a pause before Cutter said, "Mega Evolution. Wow."

May nodded. "It is extremely powerful. We did not expect for anyone in Tycoon to be able to yield that type of power. They are much more powerful than expected. We are going to have to be extremely careful, yet we need to start making much more tactical and calculated attacks. We cannot continue sitting around." May bit her lip, deep in thought, apparently having forgotten that Cutter was there. He could only imagine how much stress she was under.

"So only Pacifidlog was targeted today?" Cutter asked, his parents in mind.

"Yes," May replied, his question bringing him back to reality. "This was a concentrated attack. The rest of Hoenn is fine."

Her watch beeped and she examined it before looking up at Cutter. "Some people are here to see you."

Cutter followed the Champion through the double doors, Dolos at his heels, into the giant hall once more. Standing in front of the desk, a face stained with tears was his mother and next to him, with much drier eyes, his father.

"CUTTER!" Mrs. Robinson screamed, throwing her arms around Cutter and squeezing the breath out of him. He returned the hug as best he could and weathered it, knowing he owed at least that to his mother. He hadn't spoken to her in months. He suspected that they thought he was dead. Having a son come back to life, that must be a wild ride to go through. And then hearing that your son was involved in a giant, life threatening battle the day after he was found to be alive? That couldn't be good for his parents health.

Finally, she let go, and his father took her place. After a minute, he didn't know if the tears were his own or his father's, but he didn't care. His mother joined in, and Dolos, not wanting to miss out on the action, scampered up Cutter's leg and perched on his shoulder, watching curiously what was going on. Even though Hoenn, Johto, and the world at large was at war, Cutter was happy in this tiny moment. It might, he figured, be the last glimpse of happiness he might have with his family for a while.

xx

 **Hey all! Thanks for reading! Super excited about this chapter, things come to a collision with Tycoon much sooner than I anticipated, so it's always fun for the Chapter to take me where I wasn't expecting. The big battle scene was tough, but ultimately I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Like always, like, subscribe, review, or PM me about the story and your thoughts on it! Thanks to the ever wonderful Melior for test reading for me! Peace!**


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